SECTION 1. Section 4A of chapter 25 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out the words “No public hearing on a discontinuance of service by a common carrier of passengers by motor vehicle shall take place until the expiration of thirty days from notice thereof to the public in the city, town or area affected thereby, and such notice shall be given in the manner provided by section three of chapter thirty A.”

SECTION 2. Section 5C of said chapter 25 is hereby repealed.

SECTION 3. Section 7 of said chapter 25 is hereby repealed. 

SECTION 4. Section 8 of said chapter 25 is hereby repealed. 

SECTION 5. Section 10B of said chapter 25 is hereby amended by striking out the words “, or a contract filed under section seven of chapter one hundred and fifty-nine B, and for filing an application for a permit for special service, under section eleven A of chapter one hundred and fifty-nine A” 

SECTION 6. Said section 10B of said chapter 25 is hereby further amended by striking out the words “, other than one required to be filed under section seven of chapter one hundred and fifty-nine B, required by law to be filed with the department, and for filing an appeal to the commission from a ruling or decision of the director of the transportation division, under section twelve F of this chapter”

SECTION 7. Said section 10B of said chapter 25 is hereby further amended by striking out the words “For filing each application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity under chapter one hundred and fifty-nine A, for the issuance of a license for charter service under chapter one hundred and fifty-nine A, or” 

SECTION 8. Section 12F of said chapter 25 is hereby repealed.

SECTION 9. Section 12G of said chapter 25 is hereby repealed. 

SECTION 10. Section 12R of said chapter 25 is hereby repealed.

SECTION 11. Section 23 of said chapter 25 is hereby repealed. 

SECTION 12. Section 3(i) of chapter 161A of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out the words “department of telecommunications and energy” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- commission on transportation safety oversight and regulation established in chapter 22F.

SECTION 13. Said section 3(i) of said chapter 161A is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 84, the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following word:- commission

SECTION 14. The General Laws are hereby amended by inserting after chapter 22E the following chapter:-

Chapter 22F. Section 1. (a) There is hereby established the commission on transportation safety oversight and regulation, hereinafter the commission, composed of 7 members. The commission shall be an independent public entity not subject to the supervision or control of any other executive office, department, commission, board, bureau, agency or political subdivision of the commonwealth.

(b) The commission shall include: 1 member, who shall be appointed by the governor from a list of 3 nominees created jointly by the attorney general and the executive director of the MBTA Advisory Board and who shall serve as chair; and 6 other members, 3 of whom shall be appointed by the president of the senate, at least 1 of whom shall have experience in transportation safety, operations or planning or a relevant engineering discipline and at least 1 of whom shall have experience in public finance, and 3 of whom shall be appointed by the speaker of the house, at least 1 of whom shall have experience in transportation safety, operations or planning or a relevant engineering discipline and at least 1 of whom shall have experience in public finance.

(c) The person initially appointed by the governor as chair shall serve for a term of 3 years. The person initially appointed by the president of the senate with experience in transportation safety, operations or planning or a relevant engineering discipline shall serve for a term of 4 years. The person initially appointed by the president of the senate with experience in public finance shall serve for a term of 5 years. The other person initially appointed by the president of the senate shall serve for a term of 2 years. The person initially appointed by the speaker of the house with experience in transportation safety, operations or planning or a relevant engineering discipline shall serve for a term of 5 years. The person initially appointed by the speaker of the house with experience in public finance shall serve for a term of 4 years. The other person initially appointed by the speaker of the house shall serve for a term of 2 years. After initial appointments, members shall serve for terms of 5 years.

(d) Members shall be eligible for reappointment. 

(e) Members may be removed by a majority vote of the governor, president of the senate and speaker of the house for substantial neglect of duty, inability to discharge the powers and duties of office, gross misconduct or conviction of a felony.

(f) Any vacancy occurring on the commission shall be filled within 90 days by the original appointing authority. A person appointed to fill a vacancy occurring other than by expiration of a term of office shall be appointed for the unexpired term of the member they succeed.

(g) The commission shall elect a vice chair. The vice chair shall act as chair in the absence of the chair or in the event of a vacancy in that position.

(h) 4 members of the commission shall constitute a quorum, and 4 affirmative votes shall be required for any action or recommendation of the commission; the chair or any 4 members of the commission may call a meeting. 

(i) Meetings of the commission shall be held as frequently as the commission determines, but in no event less than quarterly.

(j) Meetings of the commission shall be subject to sections 18 to 25, inclusive, of chapter 30A. The commission shall also be subject to all other provisions of said chapter 30A, and records pertaining to the administration of the commission shall be subject to section 42 of chapter 30 and section 10 of chapter 66. All moneys of the commission shall be considered public funds for purposes of chapter 12A. Except as otherwise provided in this section, the operations of the commission shall be subject to chapter 268A and chapter 268B.

(k) The commission shall adopt a policy on conflict of interest consistent with the regulations issued under 49 USC § 5329, as they may be revised from time to time, which, among other things, places appropriate separation between members, employees, contractors and agents of the commission and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, hereinafter the Authority.

(l) Members of the commission shall be compensated for work performed for the commission at such rate as the secretary of administration and finance shall determine and shall be reimbursed for their expenses.

Section 2. (a) The commission shall employ an executive director, a general counsel and, subject to appropriation, may employ such other staff, including but not limited to, engineers, accountants, statisticians, investigators, attorneys, clerks and assistants, as are necessary to carry out its duties pursuant to this chapter and may determine their salaries and duties; provided, that the total amount of all such salaries shall not exceed the sum appropriated therefor by the general court. The staff shall serve at the pleasure of the commission and shall not be subject to the provisions of chapter 31 or section 9A of chapter 30. The executive director shall be responsible for the administrative operation of the commission and shall perform such other tasks as the commission shall determine. The general counsel shall be the chief legal officer of the commission. The commission may also employ, subject to appropriation, the services of experts and consultants as are necessary to carry out its duties pursuant to this chapter.

(b) The commission may assign to all employees, contractors or agents such duties as it shall from time to time deem advisable, but all acts of such employees, contractors or agents shall be done under the supervision and control of, and subject to revision by, the commission.

Section 3. The chair shall have and exercise supervision and control over all the affairs of the commission. They shall preside at all hearings at which they are present and shall designate a commissioner to act as chair in their absence. They shall not, except as is otherwise provided herein, be charged with any administrative functions. In order to promote efficiency in administration, they shall from time to time make such division or redivision of the work of the commission among the commissioners as they deem expedient. All of the commissioners shall, if so directed by the chair, participate in the hearing and decision of any matter coming before the commission. In the hearing of all matters other than those of formal or administrative character coming before the commission, at least 4 commissioners shall participate, and in the decision of all such matters, at least 4 commissioners shall participate; provided, that any such matter may be heard, examined and investigated by an employee of the commission designated and assigned thereto by the chair with the concurrence of 3 other commissioners. Such employee shall make a report in writing relative to every such matter to the commission for its decision thereon. For the purposes of hearing, examining and investigating any such matter, such employee shall have all of the powers conferred upon a commissioner. In every such case, the concurrence of a majority of the commissioners participating in the decision shall be necessary therefor.

Section 4. For the purpose of this chapter, the commission shall be authorized and empowered to:

(a) develop a plan of operation, which shall include, but not be limited to, operating procedures;

(b) make, amend and repeal rules and regulations for the management of its affairs;

(c) make all contracts and execute all instruments necessary or convenient for carrying on its business, including, but not limited to, contracts or instruments associated with agreements or transactions with any federal, state or municipal agency, other public institution or private individual, partnership, firm, corporation, association or other entity, including, but not limited to, professional service firm; 

(d) acquire, own, hold, dispose of and encumber personal property and lease real property in the exercise of its powers and performance of its duties;

(e) seek and receive grant funding from the federal government, departments or agencies of the commonwealth and private foundations;

(f) maintain a prudent level of reserve funds to protect the solvency of any trust funds under its operation and control;

(g) enter into interdepartmental agreements with any other state agencies it considers necessary to implement this chapter;

(h) adopt an official seal and alter the same;

(i) sue and be sued in its own name, plead and be impleaded;

(j) establish lines of credit and establish 1 or more cash and investment accounts to receive payments for services rendered, appropriations from the commonwealth and for all other business activity authorized by this chapter except as limited by any applicable provision of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974; and

(k) approve the use of its trademarks, brand names, seals, logos and similar instruments by participating carriers, employers or organizations.

Section 5. The commission shall, pursuant to the provisions of chapter 30A, promulgate rules and regulations to facilitate the conduct of its operations, perform its functions and govern its proceedings.

Section 6. The commission shall secure the public’s interest in the safe and reliable operation throughout the commonwealth of mass transportation systems and common carriers by (a) overseeing the safety and operations of the Authority, and serving as the state safety oversight agency for Massachusetts, pursuant to 49 USC § 5329; (b) regulating the rates and practices of common carriers used to transport passengers and property, including trucks, railways, buses, household moving companies, towing companies and hazardous waste companies; (c) licensing all intrastate Massachusetts-based motor bus companies; and (d) overseeing rideshare companies, rideshare services and rideshare drivers in Massachusetts.

Section 7. The commission shall: (a) with respect to its oversight of safety and operations for the Authority: 

(1) develop, adopt, revise and distribute a written state safety oversight program standard that complies with 49 CFR Part 674, as it may be revised from time to time; 

(2) review, approve, oversee and enforce the adoption and implementation of the Authority’s Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan, as defined in 49 CFR Part 674;

(3) investigate any allegation of noncompliance by the Authority with said Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan; 

(4) audit every 3 years the compliance of the Authority with said Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan or conduct such an audit on an ongoing basis over a 3-year time frame;

(5) investigate or require an investigation of any hazard, as defined in 49 CFR Part 674, incident as defined in 49 CFR Part 674, or accident as defined in 49 CFR Part 674;

(6) require, review, approve, oversee and enforce the adoption and implementation by the Authority of any corrective action plans, as defined in 49 CFR Part 674, that the commission deems appropriate; 

(7) publish on its website all adopted accident reports, required by 49 CFR Part 674, triennial review reports, required by 49 CFR Part 674, and open corrective action plans;

(8) prepare and publish annually a status report on the safety and operations of the Authority, which report shall include, among other information and materials that may be required by the commission or state and federal law and regulation, status updates of outstanding corrective action plans, commission directives and ongoing investigations; provided, that the commission shall supply a copy of said report to the governor, the board of directors of the Authority, the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate and the chairs of the joint committee on transportation; provided further, that the commission shall publish a copy of said report on its website; and

(9) implement and enforce other federal and state laws and regulations relating to the safety and operations of the Authority;

(b) promulgate, and revise from time to time, rules and regulations for the transportation by rail of hazardous materials in the commonwealth, which regulations shall be consistent with any federal regulations in effect;

(c) (1) audit from time to time, at its discretion, all companies subject to its jurisdiction, which audits may include, but shall not be limited to, a review of the following documents: all financial statements, the balance sheet, the income statement, the statement of cash flows, the statement of retained earnings, the notes to the financial statements, information in annual tax returns, documents concerning reconciling mechanisms related to rates, prices, charges or costs and savings related to a merger, acquisition or consolidation within 3 years after the merger, acquisition or consolidation and documents concerning service quality statistics and service quality performance at least every 3 years or whenever service quality penalties equal to or exceed 50 percent of the maximum;

(2) upon written complaint of the attorney general requesting an independent audit of a company subject to the commission’s jurisdiction, commence a proceeding within 30 days of receipt of said complaint for the purpose of ordering the requested audit in a reasonable time, which audit shall be filed promptly with the commission and shall be paid for by the company that is the subject of the audit;

(d) perform such functions as are necessary for the administration and enforcement of chapter 159A; 

(e) promulgate, and revise from time to time, rules and regulations and perform such other functions as are necessary for the administration, implementation and enforcement of chapter 159A½; and

(f) perform such functions as are necessary for the administration and enforcement of chapter 159B. 

Section 8. With respect to its duties relative to common carriers, the commission may expend annually such sums as it may from time to time deem necessary to perform its duties, including to procure opinions, advice, plans, surveys, appraisals, audits, examinations, statistics, information, apparatuses, instruments, books, tables, maps, drawings, supplies and sundries and to travel within or without the commonwealth and to cover expenses incidental thereto. The commission may also from time to time cause to be made a compilation with annotations of the statutes of the commonwealth relating to common carriers.

Section 9. With respect to its oversight of safety and operations for the Authority, the commission may:

(a) conduct or cause to be conducted through the issuance of subpoenas or other reasonable means, inspections, investigations, examinations or testing of Authority employees, contractors or agents, property, equipment, facilities, rolling stock or operations of the Authority rail system, including, but not limited to, electronic information and databases; 

(b) enter upon the Authority rail or bus system and, upon reasonable notice and a finding by the chair that the need exists to oversee safety and operations for the Authority, upon any lands, waters or premises adjacent to the Authority rail or bus system, for the purpose of conducting inspections, investigations, examinations or testing, which entry shall not be deemed a trespass; provided, that the commission shall make reasonable reimbursement for any actual damage resulting to any such adjacent lands, water, or premises resulting from such activities; 

(c) compel the Authority’s compliance with any corrective action plan or order of the commission by such means as the commission deems appropriate, including but not limited to, by: (1) issuing fines with funds going into the Transit Safety Fund; (2) directing the Authority to prioritize spending on safety-critical items; (3) removing safety hazards from the Authority rail or bus system; or (4) compelling the Authority, in compliance with this chapter, to restrict, suspend or prohibit service on all or part of the Authority rail or bus system;

(d) direct the Authority to suspend or disqualify from performing in any safety sensitive position an individual who is alleged to or who has violated safety rules, regulations, policies or laws; provided, that “safety sensitive position” shall mean any position held by an Authority employee, contractor or agent designated in the Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan for the Authority and approved by the commission as directly or indirectly affecting the safety of the passengers or employees of the Authority; and

(e) take such other action, consistent with its powers, as the commission may deem necessary to oversee safety and operations for the Authority.

Section 10. Upon request of the mayor of a city, the member of the select board of a town, member of the general court or 20 customers of the company affected, a public hearing ordered by the commission, to be held in connection with any change in rates or reduction in or discontinuance of service, shall be held in the city or town or area wherein the company affected does business or in which any decision of the commission would apply. No public hearing on a discontinuance of service by a common carrier of passengers by motor vehicle shall take place until the expiration of 30 days from notice thereof to the public in the city, town or area affected thereby, and such notice shall be given in the manner provided by section 3 of chapter 30A. The commission shall, at least 14 days prior to holding any public hearing under this section, notify in writing the mayor of each city and the members of the select board of each town in which the company does business of the time and place of such hearing.

Section 11. When so requested by any interested party, the commission shall rule upon any question of substantive law properly arising in the course of any proceeding before the commission or any member or members thereof, and any interested party aggrieved by such ruling may object thereto and may secure a review as hereinafter provided. Any failure or refusal of the commission to rule upon such question at or prior to the entry of a final order or decision shall be taken and recorded as a ruling adverse to the party requesting the ruling. An appeal as to matters of law from any final decision, order or ruling of the commission may be taken to the supreme judicial court by an aggrieved interested party by the filing of a written petition praying that the order of the commission be modified or set aside in whole or in part.

Such petition for appeal shall be filed with the secretary of the commission within 20 days after the date of service of the decision, order or ruling of the commission or within such further time as the commission may allow upon request filed prior to the expiration of the 20 days after the date of service of said decision, order or ruling. The commission shall serve such decision, order or ruling upon all interested parties by mailing, postpaid, within 1 day of its being entered, and service shall be presumed to have occurred in the normal course of delivery of such mail. Within 10 days after such petition has been filed, the appealing party shall enter the appeal in the supreme judicial court sitting in Suffolk county by filing a copy thereof with the clerk of said court and therewith a certificate that they are of the opinion that there is such probable ground for the appeal as to make it a fit subject for judicial inquiry and that it is not intended for delay; and double costs may be assessed by the court upon any such party whose petition shall appear to the court not to be a fit subject for judicial inquiry or shall appear to be intended for delay.

The record on appeal shall include 1 copy of the petition of the appellant or other original papers and the decision, order or ruling of the commission; and if and to the extent that either the commission or the appellant or any other party to the proceedings so requests within 20 days from filing the petition for appeal with the commission, it shall include 1 copy of the exhibits and documents introduced in the proceeding before the commission, the official report of the proceedings and the findings of fact of the commission. The secretary of the commission shall make an estimate of the expense of the preparation and transmission of the necessary papers and copies of papers aforesaid and shall give the appellant notice in writing of the amount of such estimate. The appellant, within 20 days after the date of such notice from the secretary, shall pay them the amount of such estimate and such further amount beyond such estimate as the secretary shall find to be then due for such preparation. The secretary then without delay shall prepare the papers and copies of papers aforesaid for transmission, and when they are ready, shall give notice in writing of such fact to the appellant who, within 5 days after the date of such notice, shall pay to the secretary any balance then due therefor. The record on appeal shall then be certified to the supreme judicial court by the secretary of the commission. The commission or the supreme judicial court or any justice or judge thereof may for cause shown extend the time for doing any of the acts required by this paragraph. The supreme judicial court may order the transmission of the original or a copy of any paper not appearing in the record, or appearing therein in an abbreviated form, if at any time such omitted paper or any omitted part of such abbreviated paper becomes material.

Each claim of appeal shall set forth separately and particularly each error of law asserted to have been made by the commission. Upon the entry of the appeal, it shall be heard and determined by the court, which shall have jurisdiction to affirm, modify or set aside such decision, order or ruling of the commission in whole or in part or remand the proceeding to the commission with instructions subject to review by the full court upon appeal.

Any decision, order or ruling of the commission shall be effective and may be enforced according to its terms, and the operation or enforcement thereof shall not be suspended or stayed by the entry of an appeal therefrom. The procedure before the court, except as otherwise set forth herein, shall be that prescribed by its rules, which shall state upon what terms the operation or enforcement of the decision, order or ruling shall be stayed. Any stock, bonds, debentures, convertible debentures, coupon notes, notes or other evidences of indebtedness issued pursuant to and in accordance with a decision, order or ruling of the commission shall, if issued more than 60 days after the date of service of such decision, order or ruling, be valid and binding in accordance with their terms notwithstanding whether such decision, order or ruling of the commission is later modified or set aside in whole or in part unless the operation or enforcement of such decision, order or ruling has been suspended or stayed by the court prior to such issuance.

The burden of proof shall be upon the appealing party to show that the decision, order or ruling of the commission appealed from is invalid.

No evidence beyond that contained in the record shall be introduced before the court, except that in cases where issues of confiscation or of constitutional right are involved, the court may order such additional evidence as it deems necessary for the determination of such issues to be taken before the commission and to be adduced at the hearing in such manner and upon such terms and conditions as the court may deem proper. Whenever the court shall order additional evidence to be taken, the commission shall promptly hear and report such evidence to the court so that the proof may be brought as nearly as reasonably possible down to the date of its report thereof to the court. The commission may, after hearing such evidence, modify its findings as to facts and its original decision or orders by reason of the additional evidence so taken, and it shall file with the court such amended decision or orders and such modified or new findings. If the commission modifies or amends its original decision or orders, the appealing party or any other party aggrieved by such modified or amended decision or order may file with the court, within such time as the court may allow, a specification of any errors of law claimed to have been made by the commission in such modified decision or orders, which specification of errors shall thereupon be considered by the court in addition to the errors of law asserted in the claim of appeal.

The supreme judicial court shall also have jurisdiction upon application of the commission to enforce all orders of the commission.

Section 12. In all investigations and inquiries authorized by law to be made by the commission and in all proceedings before it, any commissioner may summon witnesses, administer oaths or take testimony. The fees of such witnesses for attendance and travel shall be the same as for witnesses before the superior court and shall be paid by the commonwealth upon the certificate of the commission filed with the comptroller. The fees of such witnesses need not be paid or tendered to them prior to their attendance and testimony. Subpoenas may be issued at the instance of a complainant, respondent or any other party to any proceeding before the commission under such rules as it may establish, in which case, the cost of service and the fees of witnesses shall be borne by the party at whose instance the witness is summoned, and such fees shall be paid to the witnesses as provided in the case of witnesses before the superior court.

Section 13. Notwithstanding the provisions of clause twenty-sixth of section 7 of chapter 4 and section 10 of chapter 66, the commission may protect from public disclosure trade secrets, confidential, competitively sensitive or other proprietary information provided in the course of proceedings conducted pursuant to this chapter. There shall be a presumption that the information for which such protection is sought is public information, and the burden shall be upon the proponent of such protection to prove the need for such protection. Where such a need has been found to exist, the commission shall protect only so much of the information as is necessary to meet such need. The commission shall promulgate procedural rules and regulations consistent with this section as it deems necessary to implement the provisions hereof.

Section 14. Except when a fee is required by another provision of law and except in the case of a filing by the commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions, the commission shall charge and collect fees as determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section 3B of chapter 7 in the following instances: 

(a) for filing a tariff having intrastate application only, schedule or amendment thereto or a contract filed under section 7 of chapter 159B and for filing an application for a permit for special service under section 11A of chapter 159A;

(b) for filing each annual report or any contract, other than one required to be filed under section 7 of chapter 159B, required by law to be filed with the commission;

(c) for filing each application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity under chapter 159A, for the issuance of a license for charter service under said chapter 159A or for exemption from a zoning ordinance; or

(d) for any other approval or authority of the commission.

The commission shall designate 1 of its employees to receive all fees collected under this section who shall give bond to the state treasurer in the sum of 10,000 dollars.

Section 15. There shall be established and placed within the commission a separate fund to be known as the Unified Carrier Registration Trust Fund. The fund shall be credited with application fees collected pursuant to section 10 of chapter 159B and income derived from the investment of amounts credited to the fund. All amounts credited to the fund shall be held in trust and shall be available for expenditure, without further appropriation, by the commission for the regulation of motor carriers pursuant to said chapter 159B. Any unexpended balance in the fund at the close of a fiscal year shall remain in the fund and shall be available for expenditure in subsequent fiscal years.

Annually, not later than December 1, the commission shall issue a report to the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate, the chairs of the house and senate committees on ways and means and the chairs of the joint committee on transportation on the fund’s activities including, but not limited to, amounts credited to the fund, amounts expended from the fund and any unexpended balance.

Section 16. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, any funds not expended prior to the effective date of this act in the Department of Public Utilities Unified Carrier Registration Trust Fund, established in section 12R of chapter 25, shall be transferred by the comptroller from said fund to the Unified Carrier Registration Trust Fund established in this chapter.

Section 17. There shall be established and placed within the commission a separate fund to be known as the Transit Safety Fund. The fund shall be credited with fines collected pursuant to section 7 of chapter 22F and income derived from the investment of amounts credited to the fund. All amounts credited to the fund shall be held in trust and shall be available for expenditure, without further appropriation, by the commission for activities related to its oversight of safety and operations for the Authority. Any unexpended balance in the fund at the close of a fiscal year shall remain in the fund and shall be available for expenditure in subsequent fiscal years.

Annually, not later than December 1, the commission shall issue a report to the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate, the chairs of the house and senate committees on ways and means and the chairs of the joint committee on transportation on the fund’s activities including, but not limited to, amounts credited to the fund, amounts expended from the fund and any unexpended balance.

SECTION 15. Section 10 of chapter 159 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out the words “department of public utilities” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- commission on transportation safety oversight and regulation, hereinafter the transportation commission,

SECTION 16. Section 11 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by inserting after the word “department” the following words:- or the transportation commission

SECTION 17. Said section 11 of said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “carriers” the following words:- , with respect to those common carriers subject to their respective jurisdictions,

SECTION 18. Section 12 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by striking out the first paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:- The department and the transportation commission shall, so far as may be necessary for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of law relative thereto, have general supervision and regulation of, and jurisdiction and control over, the following services, when furnished or rendered for public use within the commonwealth, except when such services are provided by a municipal lighting plant or cooperative public corporation which provides telecommunications services pursuant to section 47E of chapter 164, and in the exercise thereof, the department and the transportation commission shall, so far as may be necessary for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of law relative thereto, take cognizance of all applicable transportation plans and programs adopted by the public works commission pursuant to section five A of chapter sixteen, and all persons, firms, corporations, associations and joint stock associations or companies furnishing or rendering any such service or services, in sections ten to forty-four, inclusive, collectively called common carriers and severally called a common carrier:

SECTION 19. Section 13 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by inserting after the word “department” the following words:- and the transportation commission

SECTION 20. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 14 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 14. Whenever the department or the transportation commission, with respect to those common carriers subject to their respective jurisdictions, shall be of opinion, after a hearing had upon its own motion or upon complaint, that any of the rates, fares or charges of any common carrier for any services to be performed within the commonwealth, or the regulations or practices of such common carrier affecting such rates, are unjust, unreasonable, unjustly discriminatory, unduly preferential, in any wise in violation of any provision of law, or insufficient to yield reasonable compensation for the service rendered, it shall determine the just and reasonable rates, fares and charges to be charged for the service to be performed, and shall fix the same by order to be served upon every common carrier by whom such rates, fares and charges or any of them are thereafter to be observed. Every such common carrier shall obey every requirement of every such order served upon it, and do everything necessary or proper in order to secure absolute compliance with every such order by all its officers, agents and employees. If, upon investigation, the transportation commission finds that in any case it is consistent with the public interests to authorize a common carrier to make its charge for transportation less for a longer than for a shorter distance, it may grant such authority and may from time to time modify or revoke the same.

If complaint is made to the transportation commission concerning any rate, fare or charge demanded and collected by any railroad corporation for any service performed and the transportation commission finds after hearing and investigation that an unjustly discriminatory rate, fare or charge has been collected for any service, the transportation commission may order the railroad corporation which has collected the same to make due reparation to the person who has paid the same, with interest from the date of the payment of such unjustly discriminatory amount; but such order of reparation shall cover only payments made within two years before the date of filing the petition seeking to have reparation ordered. Such order may be made without formal hearing whenever the railroad corporation affected shall assent in writing thereto, or file or join in a petition therefor, but in no case shall any such order be made until the transportation commission shall be satisfied by such investigation as may be necessary that the rate, fare or charge collected was in fact unjustly discriminatory.

SECTION 21. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 15 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 15. Except as provided by section two hundred of chapter one hundred and sixty, no common carrier shall, directly or indirectly, issue or give any free service, free tickets, free pass or free transportation for passengers or property between points within the commonwealth; but this section shall not prohibit any railroad corporation or railway company from giving free or reduced rate service to policemen, letter carriers and firemen while in uniform or engaged in the discharge of their duties, or prohibit any common carrier from giving free or reduced rate service to its employees, or in cases of public emergency, or for such charitable purposes as may be approved, with respect to those common carriers subject to their respective jurisdictions, by the department or the transportation commission, nor prohibit any telephone or telegraph company, unless the department shall otherwise order, from giving service at reduced rates to the commonwealth or to any city or town; nor shall this section prohibit the members of the transportation commission, its experts, inspectors and counsel from being transported over the railroads and the railways of the commonwealth free of charge while engaged in the performance of their duties; nor shall this section prohibit the giving by any such common carrier of free or reduced rate service to the classes defined and provided for in the act of congress entitled ''An act to regulate commerce'' and acts amendatory thereof, or to a blind person identified by a certification of registration under section one hundred and thirty-five of chapter six from the commission of the blind.

SECTION 22. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 16 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 16. If the department or the transportation commission, with respect to those common carriers subject to their respective jurisdictions, is of opinion, after a hearing had upon its own motion or upon complaint, that the regulations, practices, equipment, appliances or service of any common carrier are unjust, unreasonable, unsafe, improper or inadequate, it shall determine the just, reasonable, safe, adequate and proper regulations and practices thereafter to be in force and to be observed, and the equipment, appliances and service thereafter to be used, and shall fix and prescribe the same by order to be served upon every common carrier to be bound thereby. The transportation commission may after such a hearing, order any railway company to build and operate any just and reasonable extensions of its lines for which it may have been or may be granted locations and order from time to time that a railroad company shall operate its lines, of standard gauge, or such parts thereof as the transportation commission shall prescribe, by electric power instead of steam power, and in its order shall prescribe the time within which the work of electrification shall be done. Before making such order, the department or transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction, shall consider the relative importance and necessity of the changes in any specific regulations, practices, equipment and appliances proposed to be included therein and of other changes which may be brought to its attention in the course of the hearing, the financial ability of the carrier to comply with the requirements of the order, and the effect of the carrier's compliance therewith, upon its financial ability to make such other changes, if any, as may be deemed by the department or transportation commission of equal or greater importance and necessity in the performance of the service which the carrier has professed to render to the public. Every such common carrier shall obey every requirement of every such order so served upon it, and do everything necessary or proper in order to secure absolute compliance with every such order by all its officers, agents and employees. Every such common carrier, railroad or railway company shall submit evidence to the department or transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction, within thirty days after such order is served upon it that it has complied, or is in the process of complying, with such order. The two preceding sentences shall not be applicable to any particular order issued under this section pending any appeal from such order.

SECTION 23. Section 16A of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by striking out the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 24. Section 17 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by inserting after the word “department” the following words:- or the transportation commission

SECTION 25. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 18 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 18. Subject to the powers of the department and the transportation commission to regulate and prescribe rates and charges with respect to those common carriers subject to their respective jurisdictions, a common carrier may make commodity, transit or other classes of rates. The furnishing by any common carrier of any service at the rates and upon the terms and conditions provided for in any existing contract executed prior to July first, nineteen hundred and thirteen, shall not constitute a discrimination unless the department or the transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction, so determines. The department and the transportation commission, with respect to those common carriers subject to their respective jurisdictions, shall not be prevented from taking such action as they deem proper by any commitment or agreement of a common carrier entered into by reason of any requirement or recommendation of any board or public officers acting under delegated authority from the general court prior to July first, nineteen hundred and thirteen. Unless the transportation commission determines otherwise, common carriers shall be permitted, whether required to do so by law or not, to issue mileage, workingmen's, excursion, school or commutation passenger tickets, or reduced rate tickets for the transportation of children under twelve years of age or of pupils attending school, or joint interchangeable mileage tickets, with special privileges as to the amount of free baggage which may be carried under mileage tickets of five hundred miles or more. All season tickets, before issuance, shall be subject to the approval of the transportation commission  as to the form thereof and the conditions named therein.

SECTION 26. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 19 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 19. Every common carrier shall file with the department or the transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction, and shall plainly print and keep open to public inspection schedules showing all rates, joint rates, fares, telephone rentals, tolls, classifications and charges for any service, of every kind rendered or furnished, or to be rendered or furnished, by it within the commonwealth, and all conditions and limitations, rules and regulations and forms of contracts or agreements in any manner affecting the same, in such places, within such time, and in such form and with such detail as the department or the transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction, may order; provided, however, that such schedule shall not include a rate, fare, toll or charge for directory assistance service to the commonwealth or its political subdivisions and provided further that such schedules shall not include a rate, fare, toll, or charge to any customers based on the establishment and existence of the 508 area code. In the case of common carriers subject to the interstate commerce commission the forms prescribed for such schedules and the requirements relative to the filing and publication thereof shall conform, as nearly as may be, to the forms prescribed by and the similar requirements of the said commission. No common carrier shall, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, charge, demand, exact, receive or collect a different rate, joint rate, fare, telephone rental, toll or charge for any service rendered or furnished by it, or to be rendered or furnished, from that applicable to such service as specified in its schedule filed with the department or the transportation commission and in effect at the time. Nor shall any common carrier refund, or remit directly or indirectly, any rate, joint rate, fare, telephone rental, toll or charge so specified, or any part thereof, nor extend to any person or corporation any rule, regulation, privilege or facility except such as are specified in the said schedule and regularly and uniformly extended to all persons and corporations under like circumstances for the like, or substantially similar, service. Unless the department or the transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction, otherwise orders, no change shall be made in any rate, joint rate, fare, telephone rental, toll, classification or charge, or in any rule or regulation or form of contract or agreement in any manner affecting the same as shown upon the schedules filed in accordance with this chapter, except after thirty days from the date of filing a statement with the department or the transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction, setting forth the changes proposed to be made in the schedule then in force and the time when such changes shall take effect, and such notice to the public as the department or the transportation commission orders, to be given prior to the time fixed in such statement to the department or the transportation commission for the changes to take effect. The department or the transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction, for good cause shown may allow changes before the expiration of said thirty days, under such conditions as it may prescribe, and may suspend the taking effect of changes under the circumstances and in the manner provided in the following section. At the time when any changes take effect they shall be plainly indicated upon existing schedules, or new schedules shall be printed and filed as the department or the transportation commission may order. This section shall not prevent any telegraph or telephone corporation from continuing to furnish the use of its lines, equipment or service under any contracts in force on July first, nineteen hundred and thirteen, or upon the taking effect of any schedules of rates filed with the department as provided in this chapter, at the rates fixed in such contract; provided, that when any such contracts are or become terminable by notice, the department may direct by order that such contracts shall be terminated by the telegraph or telephone corporation which is a party thereto, and thereupon such contracts shall be terminated by such telegraph or telephone corporation as and when directed by such order. The department or transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction, may exempt any common carrier from any provision of this section upon a determination by it after notice and a hearing that such an exemption is in the public interest.

SECTION 27. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 20 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 20. Whenever the transportation commission receives notice of any changes proposed to be made in any schedule filed by any common carrier not furnishing the service of transmission of intelligence by electricity under this chapter, it may, either upon complaint or upon its own motion, and after notice, hold a public hearing and make investigation as to the propriety of such proposed changes. Whenever the department receives notice of any changes proposed to be made in any schedule filed under this chapter which represent a general increase in rates by a common carrier furnishing the service of transmission of intelligence by electricity, it shall notify the attorney general of the same forthwith, and shall thereafter hold a public hearing and make an investigation as to the propriety of such proposed changes after first causing notice of the time, place and the subject matter of such hearing to be published at least twenty-one days before such hearing in such local newspapers as the department may select. Pending any such investigation and the decision thereon, the department or the transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction, may, by order served upon the common carrier affected, suspend, from time to time, the taking effect of such changes, but not for a longer period than ten months in the aggregate beyond the time when the same would otherwise take effect. After such hearing and investigation, the department or the transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction, may make, in reference to any new rate, joint rate, fare, telephone rental, toll, classification, charge, rule, regulation or form of contract or agreement proposed, such order as would be proper in a proceeding under section fourteen. At any such hearing involving any proposed increase in any rate, joint rate, fare, telephone rental, toll or charge, the burden of proof to show that such increase is necessary to obtain a reasonable compensation for the service rendered shall be upon the common carrier. If, at a hearing involving any proposed decrease in any rate, joint rate, fare, telephone rental, toll or charge demanded by any common carrier, it shall appear to the department or the transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction, that the said rate, joint rate, fare, telephone rental, toll or charge is insufficient to yield reasonable compensation for the service rendered, it may determine what will be a just and reasonable minimum to be charged, and make an order that the common carrier shall not thereafter demand or collect less than the minimum so prescribed without first obtaining its consent, after a public hearing.

SECTION 28. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 21 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 21. Wherever there is no satisfactory through route for the transportation of passengers or freight at a reasonable rate, the transportation commission may order, after notice and a public hearing had upon complaint, any two or more railroad or railway companies whose lines, owned, operated, leased, or controlled by stock ownership, or otherwise, form a continuous or connecting line of transportation, or could be made to do so by the construction and maintenance of switch connection or interchange track at connecting points, or by transfer of property or passengers at connecting points, to establish through routes and joint rates, fares and charges for the transportation of passengers and property, and for the operation of the cars and other equipment for such transportation, within the commonwealth, as the transportation commission may by order designate; and, if the board of aldermen or selectmen act adversely upon, or fail to act within sixty days from the date of, the filing of a petition, brought by a railway company under section seventy of chapter one hundred and sixty-one for a location of tracks in their city or town upon which the petitioning company may construct the switch connection or interchange track necessary to the establishment of such through routes or transportation, or to the operation of such cars or other equipment, the petitioner or any interested party may, within sixty days thereafter, file such petition with the transportation commission which may, if after notice and a public hearing it is of the opinion that public convenience and necessity so require, grant locations upon which the grantee company may construct the switch connection or interchange track necessary to the establishment of such through routes or transportation, or to the operation of such cars or other equipment; and, if such railroad or railway companies cannot agree as to the division of rates or the conditions under which such through routes or transportation shall be established or such cars or other equipment operated, the transportation commission may, after due hearing, determine and prescribe the proportionate parts of such through rates payable to each of such companies, and the conditions under which through routes or transportation shall be established or such cars or other equipment operated; provided, that a railroad or railway company shall have control of and responsibility for the management and operation of all trains or cars while upon its railroad or railway as fully as if it owned them; and provided, further, that in case of a petition for the establishment of such through routes and transportation by railroad companies, or for locations for the construction of the switch connection or interchange track necessary to the establishment of such through routes and transportation by railway companies, the transportation commission shall give fourteen days' notice of any public hearing held by it under the foregoing provisions of this section, to the petitioners, to the companies affected and to the board of aldermen of the city or the selectmen of the town where the lines of said companies connect or within which a connection between the lines of said companies is proposed to be made. The foregoing provisions of this section shall apply to a railroad company and a steamship company whose lines forms or can be made to form a continuous or connecting line of transportation by transfer of property or passengers at connecting points, whether or not such railroad company and steamship company are commonly owned, operated, leased, or controlled by stock ownership, or otherwise. The transportation commission may, upon reasonable terms and conditions, require and order any railroad or railway company which carries freight in carload lots to establish and maintain for the purpose of receiving or delivering freight in carload lots, a switch connection with any private side track constructed on land adjoining the location of any such railroad or railway, if the transportation commission is of opinion that such connection is reasonable and practicable, can be put in and used with safety, and will furnish sufficient business to justify its construction and maintenance, and the transportation commission may grant to any railroad company the necessary locations in public ways and places for any switch connection ordered by the transportation commission to be constructed by such railway company.

SECTION 29. Section 22 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by striking out the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission

SECTION 30. Section 23 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by striking out the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission

SECTION 31. Section 25 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by inserting after the word

“department,” in line 1, the following words:- and the transportation commission

SECTION 32. Said section 25 of said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 2-3, the words “the department” and inserting in place thereof the following word:- it

SECTION 33. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 26 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 26. The department and the transportation commission may investigate and determine the fair value for any purpose of all the property of any common carrier rendering a public service subject to its supervision, actually used or useful for the convenience of the public, whenever it deems the ascertainment of such value necessary to carry into effect any provision of this chapter, and may at any time make a revaluation of such property. In making any valuation under this section, the department and the transportation commission shall have access to and may use any books, documents or records in the possession of any department or board of the commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof.

SECTION 34. Section 27 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by inserting after the word “department,” in line 1, the following words:- and the transportation commission

SECTION 35. Said section 27 of said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 12, the words “the opinion of the department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- its opinion 

SECTION 36. Section 28 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 3, the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 37. Said section 28 of said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 7, the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 38. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 29 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 29. An inspector shall, under the direction of the transportation commission, investigate as promptly as may be any accident upon a railroad, railway or motor vehicle of a carrier of passengers under the jurisdiction of the transportation commission, or in which such railroad, railway or motor vehicle is concerned, which causes the death or imperils the life of any person, and shall report thereon to the transportation commission, which shall investigate the cause of any such accident resulting in loss of life, and may investigate any other accident. The inspector shall attend the inquest held in case of any such death by accident and may cause any person who has knowledge of the facts or circumstances connected with such death to be summoned as a witness to testify at the inquest.

SECTION 39. Section 30 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by striking out the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission

SECTION 40. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 31 and inserting in place thereof the following section: Section 31. The department and the transportation commission may, from time to time, prescribe forms of accounts, records and memoranda for the common carriers under its supervision, or for such classes of common carriers as it shall establish. The forms shall conform as nearly as may be to those established by the interstate commerce commission. The accounts of such common carriers shall be kept in accordance with the forms prescribed. The transportation commission shall have access to the list of stockholders of any railroad corporation or railway company and may cause the said list or any part thereof to be copied for its information or for the information of said stockholders. Any railroad corporation or railway company which refuses to submit its books to the examination of the transportation commission or unreasonably neglects to keep its accounts in the method prescribed by the transportation commission shall forfeit not more than five thousand dollars.

SECTION 41. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 32 and inserting in place thereof the following section. Section 32. The department and the transportation commission, with respect to those common carriers subject to their respective jurisdictions, shall prescribe the forms for the annual returns to be made to it by the several kinds of common carriers and may from time to time make changes and additions in any such form; provided, that changes therein or additions thereto requiring any alteration in the method or form of keeping the accounts of such common carriers shall not be effective until after notice thereof shall have been given, at least six months before the beginning of the year or other period for which such changes or additions are prescribed, by the department or the transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction, to the common carriers affected thereby. The annual returns shall be returns for the year ending on December thirty-first, and shall be transmitted to the department or transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction, upon blank forms to be furnished by the department or the transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction, on or before March thirty-first following, or such subsequent date as in any case, for good cause shown, the department or the transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction, may fix. If a return is defective or appears erroneous, the department or the transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction, shall forthwith order the common carrier to amend it within fifteen days. The original of each return or amended return, subscribed and sworn to as required by law, shall be preserved in the office of the department or the transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction.

SECTION 42. Section 33 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 3, the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission

SECTION 43. Said section 33 of said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 8, the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission

SECTION 44. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 34 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 34. The department and the transportation commission, through its commissioners, members or by employees duly authorized, may examine all books, contracts, records, documents, papers and memoranda of any common carrier subject to its jurisdiction, and by subpoena duces tecum compel the production thereof, or of duly verified copies of the same or any of them, and compel the attendance of such witnesses as the department or the transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction, may require to give evidence at any such examination.

SECTION 45. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 34A and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 34A. (a) The department and the transportation commission, with respect to those common carriers subject to their respective jurisdictions, shall have general supervision of every affiliated company, as hereinafter defined, with respect to all relations, transactions and dealings, direct or indirect, with the carrier with which it is affiliated which affect the operations of such carrier, and shall make all necessary examination and inquiries and keep itself informed as to such relations, transactions and dealings as have a bearing upon the rates, financial condition and practices of such carrier. Such relations, transactions and dealings, including any payments by a carrier to such an affiliated company or by such an affiliated company to a carrier for property owned, leased or used by such carrier or such affiliated company for transportation purposes shall be subject to review and investigation by the department or the transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction, in any proceeding brought under this chapter or under chapter one hundred and fifty-nine A, one hundred and sixty or one hundred and sixty-one, and the department or the transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction, may order such affiliated company to be joined as a party respondent with such carrier in such a proceeding.

(b) Every affiliated company having such relations, transactions and dealings with the carrier with which it is affiliated shall make such annual or periodic reports, and in such form, as the department or the transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction, may by regulation prescribe, in order to give it effective supervision over all such relations, transactions and dealings.

(c) Officers and employees of the department and the transportation commission, with respect to those common carriers subject to their respective jurisdictions, may be authorized by it to examine the books, contracts, records, documents and memoranda or the physical property of any affiliated company subject to this chapter or chapter one hundred and fifty-nine A with respect to any relations, transactions or dealings, direct or indirect, between such affiliated company and any company so subject, and, for any examination so authorized, shall be entitled to full access to the subject matter thereof. No such officer or employee shall divulge any fact or information coming to his knowledge during the course of such examination unless directed by the department or the transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction, or by the court, or authorized by law.

(d) For the purposes of this section, the words ''affiliated companies'' shall include any corporation, society, trust, association, partnership or individual (a) controlling a company subject to this chapter, or chapter one hundred and fifty-nine A, either directly, by ownership of a majority of its voting stock or of such minority thereof as to give it substantial control of such company, or indirectly, by ownership of such majority or minority of the voting stock of another corporation, society, trust or association so controlling such company; or (b) so controlled by a corporation, society, trust, association, partnership or individual controlling as aforesaid, directly or indirectly, the company subject to such chapter; or (c) standing in such a relation to a company subject to such chapter that there is an absence of equal bargaining power between the corporation, society, trust, association, partnership or individual and the company so subject, in respect to their dealings and transactions.

(e) Whenever, in any proceeding before the department or the transportation commission under section fourteen, twenty, or twenty-four the reasonableness of any payment, charge, contract, or purchase, sale, obligation or other arrangement between a carrier and a company related to it as an affiliated company, as defined in paragraph (d), shall come into question, the burden of establishing and proving the reasonableness of such payment, charge contract, purchase, sale, obligation or other arrangement shall be upon such carrier.

(f) The supreme judicial court shall have jurisdiction in equity to enforce compliance with this section and with all orders of the department or the transportation commission made under authority thereof.

SECTION 46. Section 35 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by striking out the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission

SECTION 47. Section 36 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by inserting after the word “department” the following words:- and the transportation commission

SECTION 48. Said section 36 of said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “carriers” the following words:- subject to its jurisdiction 

SECTION 49. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 37 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 37. Every order of the department or the transportation commission shall be served upon every person or corporation to be affected thereby, either by personal delivery of a certified copy thereof, or by mailing a certified copy thereof, in a sealed package, postage prepaid, to the person to be affected thereby or, in the case of a corporation, to any officer or agent thereof upon whom a summons may be served under the laws of the commonwealth. Every person and corporation shall notify the department or the transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction, forthwith, in writing, of the receipt of the certified copy of every order so served, and in the case of a corporation such notification shall be signed and acknowledged by a person or officer duly authorized by the corporation to admit such service. Within a time specified in the order, every person and corporation upon whom it is served shall, if so required in the order, notify the department or the transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction, in like manner whether the terms of the order are accepted and will be obeyed. Every such order shall take effect at a time therein specified and shall continue in force either for a period designated therein or until changed or abrogated by the department or the transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction.

SECTION 50. Section 38 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by striking out the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 51. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 39 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 39. If in the judgment of the department or the transportation commission any common carrier subject to its jurisdiction violates or neglects in any respect to comply with the provisions of any law, and after written notice by the department or the transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction, continues such violation or neglect, or neglects to make returns as required by law, or to amend the same when lawfully required so to do, the department or the transportation commission, whichever has jurisdiction, shall forthwith present the facts to the attorney general for action.

SECTION 52. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 40 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 40. Whenever the department or the transportation commission is of opinion that a common carrier subject to its supervision is failing or omitting or about to fail or omit to do anything required by law or by its order, or is doing anything or about to do anything or permitting anything or about to permit anything to be done, contrary to or in violation of the law or of any of its orders, it shall direct its counsel to begin, subject to the supervision of the attorney general, an action or proceeding in the supreme judicial court in its name for the purpose of having such violations or threatened violations stopped and prevented either by mandamus or injunction.

SECTION 53. Section 41 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by inserting after the word “department,” in line 1, the following words:- and the transportation commission 

SECTION 54. Said section 41 of said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “department,” in line 13, the following words:- and the transportation commission 

SECTION 55. Section 43 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by striking out the word “shall” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- and the transportation commission shall each 

SECTION 56. Section 44 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by inserting after the word “department,” in line 1, the following words:- or the transportation commission 

SECTION 57. Said section 44 of said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 4, the words “the department” and inserting in place thereof the following word:- it 

SECTION 58. Section 50 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by striking out the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 59. Section 51 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 9-10, the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 60. Said section 51 of said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 13, the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 61. Section 52 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 1, the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 62. Said section 52 of said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 7-8, the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 63. Section 54 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 8, the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 64. Said section 54 of said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 10, the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 65. Section 57 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by striking out the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 66. Section 58 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by striking out the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 67. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 59 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 59. If a public way and a railroad cross each other, and the board of aldermen of the city or the selectmen of the town where the crossing is situated, or the department of highways, if the crossing and its approaches are in direct continuation of a state highway, or the directors of the railroad corporation, or the directors of a railway company having tracks on said way, deem it necessary for the security or convenience of the public that an alteration not involving the abolition of a crossing at grade should be made in the crossing, the approaches thereto, the location of the railroad or way, or in a bridge at the crossing, they shall apply to the board of county commissioners, or, if the crossing is situated, in whole or in part, in Boston, to the transportation commission, which shall, after public notice, hear all parties interested, and, if it decides that such alteration is necessary, shall prescribe the manner and limits within which it shall be made, and shall forthwith certify its decision to the parties and to said transportation commission. If a state highway and a railroad cross each other and the department of highways, after public notice and a hearing of all parties interested, decides that it is necessary for the security or convenience of the public that an alteration as aforesaid should be made in the crossing, the approaches thereto, the location of the railroad or way, or in a bridge at the crossing, and if no application under the foregoing provisions of this section relative to said crossing is then pending, said department of highways may order such alteration, prescribing in such order the manner and limits within which such alteration shall be made, and shall forthwith certify its decision to the parties and to said transportation commission; provided, that a party aggrieved by a decision or order of said department of highways hereunder may appeal to the transportation commission in the same manner as in the case of an appeal under section one hundred and eleven of chapter one hundred and sixty by a person aggrieved by a decision or order of the county commissioners, and the provisions of sections one hundred and eleven to one hundred and thirteen, inclusive, of said chapter shall apply to appeals hereunder except that for the purposes of this section, reference in said sections one hundred and eleven to one hundred and thirteen, inclusive, to the county commissioners shall refer to the department of highways.

Hearings by the department of highways shall be held in the county where such crossing is situated and a copy of its decision and of the plan of said alteration shall be filed by it in the office of the county commissioners of the said county. This proceeding may include any case where there is need of the rebuilding of a highway bridge or any structural change or renewal in order to strengthen or improve it. If any railway company is authorized to lay and use tracks upon the said way, the said company shall bear such part of the expense of building, rebuilding, changing, renewing, repairing or improving a bridge forming a part of said way, or of altering or improving the approaches thereto, as the commission provided for in sections sixty-one and sixty-two deem just.

SECTION 68. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 61 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 61. A commission of three disinterested persons, appointed as provided in the following section, shall determine which party shall carry such decision into effect and which party shall pay the charges and expenses of making such alteration and the future charges for keeping such bridge or crossing and the approaches thereto in repair, as well as the costs of the application to the county commissioners, or the transportation commission, and of the hearing before said commission of three disinterested persons; and it may apportion all such charges, expenses and costs between the railroad corporation, the railway company having tracks on said way, and the counties, cities or towns where said crossing is situated and other cities and towns which may be specially benefited; and if the crossing and its approaches are in direct continuation or a part of a state highway, the commonwealth may be included in such apportionment and its share shall be paid from the annual appropriation for maintenance and repair of state highways; provided, that the parties in interest may waive the appointment of the commission of three disinterested persons and determine the foregoing by written agreement to be filed in the proceeding. If a railway company is authorized to lay and use tracks upon any bridge in a highway built, repaired or altered as above provided for, or the approaches to which are altered or improved as above provided for, the said commission of three disinterested persons shall determine what part of the charges and expenses of making such changes or improvements, or of keeping such bridge or crossing and approaches in good condition, shall be paid by said railway company.

SECTION 69. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 62 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 62. Unless the parties in interest agree as provided in section sixty-one, upon application of the county commissioners, the transportation commission, the department of highways, the board of aldermen, the selectmen or the directors of the railroad corporation or of the railway company for the appointment of such commission of three disinterested persons, the superior court shall cause notice thereof to be given to the other parties interested fourteen days at least before the time fixed for the hearing; and thereupon, after hearing, shall appoint such commission of three disinterested persons, one member of which shall be a member of and designated by the transportation commission. The commission of three disinterested persons shall meet as soon as may be after its appointment, and, after notice to and a hearing of the parties, shall make a written award and return it to said court.

SECTION 70. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 65 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 65. The department of highways shall proceed to make an investigation of crossings where a public or private way and a railroad cross each other at grade, in sections sixty-five to eighty-two, inclusive, referred to as grade crossings. Said department shall annually on or before October first file with the transportation commission lists of grade crossings the abolition of which it suggests for early consideration, to which lists additional grade crossings may from time to time be added by said department of highways. Such lists shall state the names of the grade crossings, the names of the corporations operating the railroads crossed and the counties, cities and towns in which such crossings are located. The department of highways shall receive all petitions for the abolition of grade crossings from the aldermen of the city, the selectmen of the town, or the county commissioners of the county, where such a crossing exists, or the board of directors of the railroad corporation operating the railroad crossed, and after a hearing, due notice of which shall have been given to said railroad corporation, city or town and county, may in its discretion place said crossing on one of said lists. The transportation commission, after due notice to the department of highways, the counties and municipalities in which such crossings are located and the railroad corporations operating the railroads crossed, shall proceed to hold public hearings upon such lists and such additional grade crossings as the department of highways shall have notified it to include. Upon the completion of such hearings the transportation commission by order shall designate a program of grade crossings the abolition of which shall be considered; provided, that such program order may be amended or revised from time to time by the transportation commission on request of the department of highways. In establishing such program the transportation commission shall take into consideration the relative security and convenience of the public likely to result from the abolition of each particular grade crossing included therein as compared with the abolition of other grade crossings. Such program order shall state with respect to each grade crossing the name of the crossing, the name of the railroad corporation operating the railroad crossed, and the names of the counties, cities and towns in which the crossing is located. A copy of such program order and amendments and revisions thereof shall be filed in the office of the transportation commission and of the department of highways.

SECTION 71. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 70 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 70. The department of highways shall proceed to consider the abolition of grade crossings in the order established by the program orders as adopted and amended or revised under section sixty-five, and shall hold public hearings on each such grade crossing abolition, due notice of which shall be given to such railroad corporations, counties, cities and towns as may be required by law to bear part of the cost of abolition. After hearing as aforesaid, it shall by order determine the manner and limits of the grade crossing abolition, what part, if any, of an existing public or private way shall be discontinued, and whether or not a new way shall be substituted therefor, the grade for the railroad and the way, the changes to be made in the location and grades of a street railway having a location in the part of such public way where the crossing exists or in ways connecting therewith, the general method of construction, and what land or other property it considers necessary to be taken, including, in its discretion, an easement in land adjoining the location of a public or private way, or of a railroad, consisting of a right to have the land of the location protected by having the surface of such adjoining land slope from the boundary of the location in a manner specified by it; provided, that so much of any such order as relates to the foregoing shall not be effective unless the consent of the transportation commission thereto shall first be obtained, but no consent shall be given by said transportation commission to an order requiring a change in the grade of a railroad or street railway until the carrier interested, if it so requests, has been given an opportunity to be heard before said transportation commission on the sole question of such change. The department of highways shall determine in such order when the work shall be commenced, who shall do the work and how much shall be done by each. All such work not done in whole or in part by the department of highways shall be done under its general supervision. Except as otherwise provided in this section and section eighty, the total cost of the alterations aforesaid, including therein, in addition to the cost of construction, all damages on account thereof, but excluding the actual cost to a street railway of changing its railway or location to conform to the order of abolition, which shall be borne by it, and also moneys allotted under the provisions of the national industrial recovery act or other federal statutes and enabling state legislation for expenditure on such alterations from funds designated by the federal authorities exclusively for grade crossing abolitions shall be apportioned, by a board of five members constituted as hereinafter provided, among the railroad or railroads affected, the commonwealth, the county and the city or town where the crossing is situated, equitably and in accordance with the relative benefit to be derived by each from such alterations; provided, that if in any case funds sufficient to cover the said total cost are allotted as aforesaid under the provisions of the said national industrial recovery act or other federal statutes and enabling state legislation, no such apportionment shall be made; and, provided further, that any of said parties aggrieved by said apportionment may petition the supreme judicial court, which shall appoint three commissioners to make such apportionment, subject to the approval of the court. Said board shall consist of the attorney general, the chair of the transportation commission and another member of said transportation commission designated by said chair, and the commissioner of highways and one of his associate commissioners designated by said commissioner. If the crossing is of a railroad and a private way, and no crossing of a public way is abolished in connection therewith, the total cost as aforesaid shall be paid by the parties affected by the abolition in such proportion as said department of highways may establish. Said department may require the railroad corporation or corporations and the cities, towns and counties affected by any such grade crossing abolition, or any of them, to cause to be prepared and submitted to it plans, specifications and estimates of the cost of such abolition. A copy of any order made under this section, after so much thereof as is required hereby to be consented to by the transportation commission has been consented to as hereinbefore provided, shall be filed in the office of the department of highways and of the transportation commission, and a copy thereof shall be served on the state comptroller, the railroad corporation or corporations, the county and city or town affected by such abolition. The department of highways shall include in its budget estimate in each year a sum sufficient to meet the cost of such portion of any abolition or abolitions of grade crossings, to be undertaken during the following year, as is to be paid by the commonwealth, counties and municipalities.

SECTION 72. Section 73 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by striking out the words “department of telecommunications and energy” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 73. Section 74 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 4, the words “department of telecommunications and energy” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 74. Said section 74 of said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 18-19, the words “department of telecommunications and energy” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 75. Said section 74 of said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 22, the words “department of telecommunications and energy” and inserting in place thereof the words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 76. Said section 74 of said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 48-49, the words “department of telecommunications and energy” and inserting in place thereof the words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 77. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 78 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 78. All accounts of expense incurred by the railroad corporations or the city or town shall from time to time be submitted to the department of highways which shall audit the same, including any expense incurred by the commonwealth for or in connection with a state highway, and report thereon to the state comptroller. Said department shall upon request of any of the parties to the proceeding investigate the amounts presented for allowance by the commonwealth or any city or town or any railroad corporation as expended in the payment of damages for land taken or affected by reason of the proposed alteration, which have been paid by the party primarily liable therefor, as provided in section seventy-five, unless it appears that all the parties to the proceeding for the abolition of the grade crossing have assented in writing to the payment or settlement so made by the party primarily liable; and if said department determines that the amount so paid is in excess of what in its opinion should have been properly paid therefor, it shall allow only such portion of the amount so paid as it may deem to be just and reasonable. In case of any dispute as to the propriety or reasonableness of the whole or a part of any account of the expense, the transportation commission, upon application of any party to the proceedings, shall determine the amount thereof, if any, to be allowed, and its determination shall be final. The department of highways shall, from time to time, issue its orders for payments on the part of each railroad corporation, not exceeding the amount apportioned to it by said transportation commission, and for the payment by the commonwealth of a sum not exceeding the amounts apportioned to it and to the county and city or town; and such county and city or town shall repay to the commonwealth the amount apportioned to it, with interest thereon at the rate of four per cent per annum in such instalments and at such times within ten years thereafter as said transportation commission, with the approval of the state comptroller, having regard to the financial condition of the county, city or town, shall determine.

SECTION 78. Section 79 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by striking out the words “department of telecommunications and energy” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 79. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 80 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 80. If the board of aldermen of a city or the selectmen of a town where a public way and a railroad cross each other and the directors of the railroad corporation deem it necessary for the security and convenience of the public that alteration should be made in such crossing, in the approaches thereto, in the location of the railroad or public way or in the grades thereof, or in a bridge at such crossing, or that such crossing should be discontinued with or without building a new way in substitution therefor, and they agree as to the alterations to be made, a written instrument signed, in behalf of a city, by the mayor, authorized by the board of aldermen, or in behalf of a town, by the chairman of the selectmen, authorized by vote of the town, and by the president of the railroad corporation, authorized by its directors, specifying the manner and limits within which the alterations shall be made, and by which party the work shall be done, or how it shall be apportioned between the city or town and the railroad corporation, the general method of construction, the grades for the railroad and the public way, and also what land or other property it is necessary to take, and what portion, if any, of an existing public way is to be discontinued, and how the cost thereof shall be apportioned between the city or town and the railroad corporation, shall be valid and binding on the city or town and the railroad corporation, respectively, and have the same force and effect as an order of the department of highways under section seventy, if the transportation commission, after notice to all parties interested by advertisement and a public hearing, approves of the alterations set forth in the agreement as necessary for the convenience and security of the public; provided, that the department of highways, acting on behalf of the commonwealth, may, if in its judgment it seems advisable, join in such an agreement to abolish any grade crossing, thereby engaging the commonwealth to pay to the parties entitled thereto under the agreement, such amount as said department deems just, and such an agreement in which the commonwealth so joins shall be valid and binding on the commonwealth as well as the other parties thereto, and shall have the same force and effect as an order of said department under said section seventy, after approval as aforesaid by the transportation commission. Said agreement, when approved by the transportation commission and filed in its office, shall establish the locations as thus altered, and if it is necessary to take land or an easement therein to provide such new locations, the department of highways, in case of the abolition of a grade crossing to the cost of which the commonwealth is to contribute, otherwise the transportation commission, shall take the same by eminent domain on behalf of the commonwealth, of the city or town, and of the railroad corporation, respectively, under chapter seventy-nine. Except as otherwise provided in this section, so much of section seventy-four as relates to the taking of land, and so much of section seventy-five as relates to the right of any person to recover damages sustained in consequence of such taking or of the alterations made in pursuance of said order shall apply to the taking of land and to damages sustained under an agreement made pursuant to this section. The crossing and approaches shall be maintained and kept in repair as provided in section seventy-seven, unless the parties agree otherwise. If the agreement provides for the abolition of a grade crossing to the cost of which the commonwealth is to contribute, the department of highways shall keep itself informed of the progress and character of the work and of the amounts reasonably expended for work done or for damages, so far as rendered necessary for the abolition of the grade crossing; and for that purpose it may employ any necessary agents, and, from time to time, as it may consider proper, shall issue certified statements of the amount legally and properly expended for such abolition of a grade crossing. A street railway company or county or other party which would be affected by the alteration of a crossing as aforesaid may join in any agreement under this section.

SECTION 80. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 83 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 83. Every railroad corporation and railway company shall, upon request of the transportation commission, and at least once in two years, cause an examination of its tracks and roadbed and of its tunnels and bridges and of the approaches thereto to be made by a competent engineer, who shall report the result of his examination, his conclusions and recommendations to the corporation or company, and it shall forthwith transmit a copy of the report to the transportation commission. Before a railway company builds a bridge, it shall first submit the plans thereof to the transportation commission for approval. Upon the completion of a new bridge, the railroad corporation or railway company shall forthwith cause such examination and report to be made and transmitted to the transportation commission. The report shall furnish such information, in such detail and with such drawings or prints, as may be requested in writing by the transportation commission. The transportation commission may make further examination of the bridge structure if necessary or expedient. This section shall not exempt a corporation from making other and more frequent examination of its bridges and the approaches thereto.

SECTION 81. Section 84 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by striking out the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 82. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 87 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 87. The by-laws of such corporation shall be approved by the transportation commission, and shall prescribe the manner in which, and the officers and agents by whom, the purpose of its incorporation may be carried out, and also the manner in which its property may be invested. Such corporation shall annually, and as often as may be required by the transportation commission, render to it such statements of its membership and financial transactions and such other information relative thereto as the transportation commission may consider necessary for a proper exhibit of its business and standing. The transportation commission may verify such statement by an examination of the books and papers of the corporation; and whoever, having charge or custody of such books and papers, neglects to comply with this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars.

SECTION 83. Section 102 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by striking out the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission

SECTION 84. Section 105 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by inserting after the word “department,” in line 2, the following words:- or the transportation commission 

SECTION 85. Said section 105 of said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “department,” in line 7, the following words:- or the transportation commission 

SECTION 86. Section 1 of chapter 159A of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out the words “department of telecommunications and energy” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- commission on transportation safety oversight and regulation, hereinafter the transportation commission,

SECTION 87. Section 2 of said chapter 159A is hereby amended by striking out the words “department of telecommunications and energy” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission

SECTION 88. Said chapter 159A is hereby further amended by striking out section 3 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 3. If a person desiring to operate any motor vehicle for the purposes and in the manner aforesaid over a route covering at least twenty miles holds a license therefor in the terminal municipalities and also a license in all but one of the intervening municipalities, or, in case seven or more municipalities intervene, in all but one or two thereof, the transportation commission, on petition of such person, shall act as the licensing authority in the one or two municipalities, as the case may be, in which such person's application for such an original license has not been favorably acted upon within three months after the filing thereof. The transportation commission, before issuing such a license, shall give a public hearing thereon after notice to the licensing authority of such a municipality, and if the transportation commission finds that public convenience and necessity require that the applicant be allowed to operate motor vehicles through such a municipality and over a route as aforesaid, it may issue a license therefor and shall specify therein the route or routes over which such motor vehicles shall be operated therein, but operation under such a license shall be limited to through traffic without stopping in such municipality for taking on or discharging passengers, except in case of a railroad or railway company operating a bus line as a part of its system.

SECTION 89. Section 4 of said chapter 159A is hereby amended by striking out, in line 26, the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 90. Said section 4 of said chapter 159A is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 28-29, the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 91. Section 5 of said chapter 159A is hereby amended by striking out, in line 1, the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 92. Said section 5 of said section 159A is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 7, the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 93. Said section 5 of said chapter 159A is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 10, the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 94. Said chapter 159A is hereby further amended by striking out section 6 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 6. No motor vehicle shall be operated under any license issued under this chapter until the licensee, in addition to complying with all orders, rules and regulations of the licensing authority, shall have deposited with the state treasurer a bond, running to him in such sum as the transportation commission may reasonably require, with a surety or sureties or other security approved by the state treasurer and by the transportation commission, conditioned to pay any final judgment obtained against the principal named in the bond for any injury to person or property or for damages for causing the death of any person by reason of any negligent or unlawful act, on the part of said principal, his or its agents, employees or drivers, in the use or operation of any such motor vehicle. Any person so injured or damaged, or his executor or administrator, or the executor or administrator of any person whose death was so caused, may enforce payment of such judgment by suit on said bond in the name of the state treasurer, and in such suit the court may make any appropriate order for the application of any security deposited as aforesaid. If any liability insurance policy filed as security for any such bond, or any such bond with a surety company as surety, shall be cancelled or a renewal policy or bond is not filed prior to the expiration thereof, or if the state treasurer or the transportation commission at any time after notice and hearing shall determine that the sureties on any such bond or the security therefor is not sufficient, or if the transportation commission shall in its discretion determine and notify the licensee that a larger bond is required, no such motor vehicle shall thereafter be operated until the licensee has furnished other or additional security approved by the state treasurer and by the transportation commission. No security other than as herein provided shall be required of any such licensee.

SECTION 95. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 7 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 7. No person shall operate a motor vehicle under a license issued as aforesaid unless he has also obtained from the transportation commission a certificate declaring that public convenience and necessity require such operation. The transportation commission may, after public hearing, issue or refuse to issue such a certificate, or may issue the same for the partial exercise only of the privilege sought. Such certificate shall specify the route or routes over which the motor vehicles to be used thereunder may operate, and may prescribe the period during which the rights granted therein or in such license may be exercised, and may attach to the exercise of said rights such terms and conditions as the transportation commission shall deem that public convenience and necessity may require. The transportation commission, after notice and hearing, may revoke any such certificate for cause, and may, in like manner, revise any provisions thereof and any of the terms and conditions of such certificate or license. Upon such revocation, or upon the termination of the period covered by such certificate, the right of any person to operate thereunder shall immediately terminate. The transportation commission may adopt rules prescribing the manner and form in which applications for certificates or for any modification of outstanding certificates shall be made.

In the event of the decease, incompetency, insolvency, bankruptcy or corporate reorganization, under the bankruptcy law of the United States, of a holder of a certificate of public convenience and necessity, or charter license issued under section eleven A, the transportation commission, upon application of the assignee, trustee or personal representative, shall conditionally transfer such certificate or charter license to him pending decision by the transportation commission as to the fitness, willingness and ability of said transferee to conduct the operations or business authorized by said certificate or charter license. In the event of the decease, incompetency, insolvency or bankruptcy of a member of a partnership holding such certificate, the transportation commission, upon application of the surviving or remaining partners, or assignee, trustee, receiver or personal representative of the deceased, incompetent, insolvent or bankrupt partner, may make a like conditional transfer to the surviving or remaining partners.

SECTION 96. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 7A and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 7A. Any certificate of public convenience and necessity granted by the transportation commission pursuant to section seven and chapter three hundred and seventy-eight of the acts of nineteen hundred and forty-seven and any license or permit granted pursuant to sections one, three and eleven A, may be assigned and transferred in whole or in part, with the approval and consent of the transportation commission, after a public hearing, at which hearing it shall be established to the satisfaction of the transportation commission that the proposed transfer and assignment are consistent with the public interest, that public convenience and necessity require it, and that the transferee is fit, willing and able properly to conduct the operation or business authorized by said certificate, provided, however, that no certificate, license or permit shall be transferred except in connection with the bona fide sale to the transferee of the business of the transferor theretofore conducted in connection with the certificate, permit and license or any part thereof sought to be transferred. Notice of such public hearing shall be given to the holders of licenses issued under section eleven A in the city or town into which said change is sought to be made, and to holders of certificates issued under section seven and doing business in such city or town.

No person, firm, trust or corporation subject to the jurisdiction of the transportation commission shall hereafter purchase, acquire, take or hold, directly or indirectly, any part of the capital stock of any carrier subject to the provisions of this chapter, nor shall any person, any associated group of persons or any firm, trust or corporation, who or which is not subject to the jurisdiction of the transportation commission, acquire, take or hold, directly or indirectly, more than fifty per cent of the voting capital stock of a carrier subject to this chapter, unless authorized so to do by the transportation commission. No consent shall be given by the transportation commission to the acquisition as aforesaid unless it shall have been shown that such acquisition is consistent with the public interest, and if such consent is given in whole or in part the transportation commission may impose such terms and conditions as it shall deem to be in the public interest. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the holding of any stock heretofore lawfully acquired by a person, firm, trust or corporation, or, upon the surrender or exchange of said stock pursuant to an agreement of consolidation or merger or a reorganization plan, to prevent the purchase, acquisition, taking or holding of the voting capital stock of the new corporation organized pursuant to such agreement or plan to take over the property of any corporation whose stock has been thus surrendered or exchanged, or to prevent the purchase, acquisition, taking or holding of any further issue of stock, provided such further issue does not increase the proportion of voting capital stock held by such person, firm, trust or corporation. For the purposes of this section only the word ''carrier'' shall be construed to include any person, partnership, corporation or association owning or operating a motor vehicle actually used for the transportation of school children under a contract with a municipality or municipal board or for the transportation of school children in a school bus as defined in section one of chapter ninety to or from events of public interest. No person or associated group of persons owning or controlling more than fifty per cent of the stock of any corporate common carrier subject to the jurisdiction of the transportation commission under this chapter shall engage in business as a carrier as so defined without the consent of the transportation commission.

SECTION 97. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by striking out section 8 and inserting place thereof the following section:- Section 8. No motor vehicle shall be operated under a license issued under the provisions of this chapter without a permit from the transportation commission, except that a motor vehicle of an interstate carrier being used simultaneously in both interstate operations and intrastate operations under the operating authority of a certified intrastate carrier may be operated without such permit, provided that such motor vehicle is equipped to comply with the rules and regulations promulgated by the transportation commission governing the operation of such vehicle. Such permit shall not be issued until an inspector of the transportation commission finds that such motor vehicle, in respect to type, construction, equipment and operating condition, conforms to the rules and regulations promulgated by the transportation commission under the provisions of this chapter. The transportation commission shall charge fees for the issuance of an original permit and for the renewal thereof, the amount of which shall be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven for the filing thereof. Such permit may be revoked or suspended by the transportation commission at any time when it appears to the transportation commission that the motor vehicle covered by such permit does not conform to said rules and regulations. No other permit, license or registration shall be required for any such motor vehicle, except as provided in chapter ninety.

The intrastate carrier, under whose certificate the interstate carrier is operating, shall be responsible and shall annually certify to the transportation commission that every motor vehicle of the interstate carrier operated under this section complies in all respects to the rules and regulations promulgated by the transportation commission.

SECTION 98. Said chapter 159A is hereby further amended by striking out section 9 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 9. No person shall drive any motor vehicle under authority of this chapter unless he shall, in addition to being duly licensed by the registrar of motor vehicles to operate such motor vehicles, be licensed by the transportation commission. No such license shall be issued by the transportation commission to any person who has not attained age eighteen or who has not qualified in accordance with the transportation commission’s requirements or to any person who has attained age seventy unless such person, within ninety days of his seventieth birthday, and twice in each year thereafter at intervals not less than three nor more than six months apart, passes a physical examination in accordance with requirements established by the transportation commission. The transportation commission shall charge fees for the examination, issuance, and renewal of such license, the amount of which shall be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven for the filing thereof, and said transportation commission may revoke or suspend such a license at any time for such cause as may seem to it sufficient. No other license or permit than as specified or referred to in this section shall be required for any such driver.

SECTION 99. Said chapter 159A is hereby further amended by striking out section 10 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 10. Any person engaged in the operation of motor vehicles under a license and certificate as provided in this chapter is hereby declared to be a common carrier. The transportation commission shall have general supervision and regulation of, and jurisdiction and control over such common carriers to the same extent as it has over railway companies, except as to the issue of securities by persons whose securities are not subject to the jurisdiction of the transportation commission. The transportation commission may, from time to time, prescribe forms of accounts, records and memoranda for such common carriers and their accounts shall be kept in accordance with the forms prescribed.

Each such person not required to file a return by any provision of law other than this section shall annually, on or before such date as the transportation commission fixes, make to the transportation commission, in a form prescribed by it, a return for the year ending on December thirty-first next preceding. The form shall correspond as nearly as may be to those established by the interstate commerce commission for this type of common carrier and shall provide for the proper certification of the accuracy thereof. Each such person shall at all times, upon request, furnish any information required by the transportation commission or its duly authorized employees relative to the condition, management and operation of such person as a common carrier, and shall comply with all lawful orders of the transportation commission. Every such common carrier neglecting to make such annual return within the time prescribed as aforesaid, or to amend said return within fifteen days of the date of any notice to do so, or neglecting to furnish any information lawfully required as aforesaid, shall forfeit five dollars for each day during which such neglect continues; and if such person unreasonably refuses or neglects to make said return or amendment he shall forfeit not more than five hundred dollars. Failure to comply with this section shall be a cause for revocation or suspension of a certificate under section seven.

SECTION 100. Section 11 of said chapter 159A is hereby amended by striking out, in line 1, the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 101. Said section 11 of said chapter 159A is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 6, the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following word:- transportation commission 

SECTION 102. Said chapter 159A is hereby further amended by striking out section 11A and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 11A. No person shall operate or offer to provide service by means of any motor vehicle carrying ten or more persons, including the driver, upon any public way in charter service, as hereinafter defined, unless he shall have obtained from the transportation commission a license to engage in the business of rendering such service and certifying that the rendering of such service is consistent with the public interest, that public convenience and necessity require it and that the applicant is fit, willing and able properly to perform such service. ''Charter service'' is hereby defined as the transportation of groups of persons who, pursuant to a common purpose and under a single contract, and at a fixed charge for the vehicle have acquired the exclusive use of the vehicle for the duration of a particular trip or tour and in such a manner as not to be subject to section one. The transportation commission may, after public hearing, grant or refuse to grant a license to engage in the business of rendering charter service, and may, after notice and hearing, suspend or revoke such a license for cause. Notice of such public hearing shall be given to each holder of a license issued under this section who is doing business in the city or town in which the proposed service is to be located or in contiguous cities or towns and to each holder of a certificate issued under section seven who is doing business in such city or town. Any such license shall remain in force except while so suspended, until so revoked.

No person shall operate any motor vehicle carrying ten or more persons, including the driver, upon any public way in special service, or school service, as hereinafter defined, unless he shall have obtained from the transportation commission a permit to render such special service, or school service, certifying that the rendering of such special service or school service is consistent with the public interest, and public convenience requires it. ''Special service'' is hereby defined as the transportation by motor vehicle over a route other than one certified to the applicant under section seven, for any special purpose, event or occasion or series of events or occasions, or under contract to a business establishment or for the transportation of employees to a place of employment, of a number of passengers to whom the carrier itself, or some person in its behalf, has sold or intends to sell tickets for transportation service, whether such tickets are for transportation alone or are in the form of combination tickets. The application for a special service permit shall designate the specific point or points of origin and destination proposed to be served. ''School service'' is hereby defined as the transportation, by motor vehicle over a route other than one certified to the applicant under section seven, of children to and from school and summer day camp. No special service or school service permit shall be issued in any city or town as the point of origin other than to the holder of a certificate under section seven who has a certificated route in said city or town, unless there is no such certificate holder in such city or town, or unless the holder of said certificate is not fit, willing and able properly to perform the special service or school service applied for, and no such permit shall be issued to operate over a route over which or approximately over which a carrier has a certificate to operate under section seven, if said carrier is fit, willing and able properly to perform the special service or school service applied for. The transportation commission may grant or refuse to grant a permit for such special service, or school service, upon application, after not less than seven days' notice by mail directed to such holders of certificates issued under section seven and of permits issued under this section serving the cities or towns of origin named in such application as might, in the judgment of the transportation commission, be interested in such service. In the event that the transportation commission considers that any objection filed with it before the return date warrants further consideration, it shall hold such hearing on such notice as it may require, and shall thereupon grant or refuse to grant such permit. Special service permits shall be granted only to the holder of a license issued under this section authorizing him to engage in the business of rendering charter service and the transportation commission may, after notice and hearing, revoke such permit for cause. Such special service or school service shall not be subject to section one.

The transportation commission may make suitable and reasonable rules, orders and regulations covering the operation of motor vehicles both under section one and in such charter service, special service, or school service, and may revise, alter, amend or annul the same. The transportation commission shall also establish minimum mileage rates for any such charter service operated in intrastate commerce within the commonwealth, and may revise, alter, amend or annul such rates, and in determining such rates the transportation commission shall consider as part of the rate base the elements of waiting service and type of equipment employed. The terms ''charter service'', ''special service'' or ''school service'' shall not include the transportation of school children to and from school pursuant to a written contract with a municipality or municipal board or with the authorities of such school, provided that the charges for such transportation are borne by such municipality or municipal board or school and provided, further, that no special charges for such transportation are made by the municipality or municipal board or such school on account of the children transported; or the operation of a motor vehicle so used and owned and operated by such authorities; or the operation of sight-seeing automobiles licensed under chapter three hundred and ninety-nine of the acts of nineteen hundred and thirty-one.

Sections six, eight, nine, eleven, thirteen, fourteen and fifteen shall apply to the operation of charter service under a license granted under this section and to special service or school service under a permit issued under this section, but vehicles for which vehicle permits have been issued under section eight and drivers who hold drivers' licenses under section nine shall not be required to have additional vehicle permits and drivers' licenses for operation in charter service or special service.

No licensee under this section shall change his address, place of business, the place where his buses or any of them are usually garaged, or his base of operations from one city or town to another, unless such change shall be approved by the transportation commission after a public hearing and notice to the holders of other licenses under this section in the city or town into which said change is sought to be made, and in the adjacent cities and towns thereto, and to holders of certificates issued under section seven, who are doing business in such city or town, and unless a finding is made by said transportation commission that such change is consistent with the public interest and that public convenience and necessity require such change.

This section shall not be construed so as to prohibit the use of school buses under contract to a school system in transporting pupils to and from summer school and school sponsored extracurricular activities.

SECTION 103. Said chapter 159A is hereby further amended by striking out section 12 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 12. The licensing authority in any city or town may, in respect of matters not treated of in the provisions of law governing the operation of motor vehicles under this chapter or rules established by the transportation commission, adopt rules and regulations governing such operation. After the adoption of any such rules and regulations, any person operating such a motor vehicle as authorized by this chapter, or a railway or railroad company operating a railway or railroad in such city or town, or any twenty residents thereof, may petition the transportation commission for the alteration, amendment or revocation of any such rule or regulation.

The transportation commission, upon such petition, after notice to the licensing authority and a hearing, may alter, amend or revoke such rule or regulation and establish in place thereof rules and regulations thereafter to be observed in such city or town. Thereafter the transportation commission, upon its own initiative or upon petition of the mayor of such city or the selectmen of such town, or of any person so operating any such motor vehicle in such city or town, or of a railway or railroad company operating a railway or railroad in such city or town, or of any twenty residents thereof, after notice to the licensing authority of such city or town, may alter, amend or revoke any rule or regulation established by the transportation commission, and may adopt rules and regulations in substitution thereof. Rules and regulations prescribed by the transportation commission under this section shall not be subject to amendment or repeal by a city or town or by the licensing authority thereof.

SECTION 104. Said chapter 159A is hereby further amended by striking out section 15 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 15. Whoever violates any provision of this chapter for which no other penalty is provided, or any order, rule or regulation adopted or established thereunder, or any lawful requirement, condition, limitation or restriction contained in any certificate, permit or license, shall be punished for a first offence by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars, and for any subsequent offence by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars; and the supreme judicial court and the superior court shall have jurisdiction in equity to restrain any such violation upon petition of the transportation commission, any licensing authority, ten citizens of any city or town affected by such violation, or any interested party.

Any licensing authority, ten citizens of any city or town affected by violation of any part of this section, or any interested party affected by such violation, may file with the transportation commission a complaint of any such violation, and the transportation commission shall investigate such complaint and may hold a hearing on the question of revocation of the certificate, permit or license of any person operating a motor vehicle under any provision of this chapter complained against, and thereafter modify, suspend or revoke such certificate, permit or license, and the transportation commission may institute in any court of the commonwealth, county or district wherein the carrier has a place of business such action, suit or complaint as may be necessary to enforce compliance with any provision of this chapter or any rule, regulation or order of the transportation commission thereunder, or any lawful requirement, condition, limitation or restriction contained in any certificate, permit or license.

SECTION 105. Section 1 of chapter 159A1/2 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out the words ““Department”, the department of public utilities.”

SECTION 106. Said section 1 of said chapter 159A1/2 is hereby further amended by striking out the words ““Division”, the division established in section 23 of chapter 25.”

SECTION 107. Said section 1 of said chapter 159A1/2 is hereby further amended by inserting after the second paragraph the following paragraph:- “Commission”, the commission on transportation safety oversight and regulation.

SECTION 108. Said chapter 159A1/2 is hereby further amended by striking out section 2 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 2. (a) The commission shall have jurisdiction over transportation network companies to ensure the safety and convenience of the public, as expressly set forth in this chapter.

(b) In consultation with the registry of motor vehicles, the commission shall provide for the establishment of removable decals to be issued by transportation network companies, in a form and manner prescribed by the commission, to transportation network drivers to designate a vehicle as a transportation network vehicle for law enforcement and public safety purposes. The decal shall be applied to both the front and back panels of a vehicle at all times while the vehicle is providing transportation network services. A transportation network driver who provides transportation network services using the digital network of more than 1 transportation network company shall display the respective decals for each transportation network company while the vehicle is providing transportation network services. A transportation network driver who ceases to be certified to provide transportation network services for any reason shall return the decal within 14 days of that cessation to the respective transportation network company in the manner and form prescribed by the commission.

(c) In consultation with the commissioner of insurance, the commission shall implement the insurance policy requirements established in section 228 of chapter 175.

(d) A transportation network company shall provide clear and conspicuous transportation fare estimates to riders at all times, including during surge pricing, high volume and high demand times. Fare estimates shall include a clear rate estimate or the amount of the price increase resulting from surge pricing or increased demand.

(e) A transportation network company and driver shall not raise base fares during a federal or a governor-declared state of emergency.

(f) In consultation with state police, local law enforcement and the registry of motor vehicles, the commission shall ensure the safety and annual inspection of transportation network vehicles, including a transportation network vehicle inspection pursuant to section 7A of chapter 90. A transportation network driver shall obtain a transportation network vehicle inspection at the driver's next annual emissions testing or within 12 months of obtaining a transportation network driver certificate, whichever comes first.

(g) The commission shall ensure the accommodation of riders with special needs. A transportation network company shall not impose additional charges or increase fares when providing services to persons with disabilities and all transportation network drivers shall comply with applicable laws, rules and regulations relating to the accommodation of service animals.

(h) A transportation network company shall not be subject to the commission’s rate or common carrier requirements pursuant to chapters 159, 159A or 159B.

(i) A transportation network company shall provide a driver's name, picture and the license plate number of the vehicle in use to a rider on any digital network used to facilitate a pre-arranged ride.

(j) In consultation with the commission, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation's highway division shall provide for the issuance of electronic toll transponders set at the commercial vehicle rate to be issued by transportation network companies to transportation network drivers. The electronic toll transponders shall be used each time a transportation network driver provides transportation network services on a toll road, bridge or tunnel; provided, however, that the issuance of an electronic toll transponder pursuant to this subsection shall not prohibit a transportation network driver from establishing or maintaining an electronic toll transponder account for personal use.

(k) In consultation with the commission, a transportation network company shall provide its ride data to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the department shall cross-reference that data with its toll data to ensure that tolls incurred by a driver providing transportation network services through a digital network are paid at the commercial rate through the pay by plate system and through the electronic transponder system.

(l) A transportation network company shall notify the commission upon receipt of information that a driver utilizing its network has violated a law or rule or regulation related to the provision of transportation network services or that the driver is not suitable to provide transportation network services.

(m) If, after the commission issued a background check clearance certificate, the commission is notified by a transportation network company, law enforcement or government entity that a driver is unsuitable and the commission verifies the unsuitability, the commission shall immediately revoke or suspend the background check clearance certificate and shall notify the driver and each transportation network company who issued the driver a driver certificate that the background check clearance certificate has been revoked or suspended. The commission shall issue rules and regulations to establish a process for a driver to appeal a revocation or suspension. The rules or regulations shall include an opportunity for a hearing.

A driver aggrieved by a final order or decision of the commission pursuant to this subsection or subsection (d) of section 3 may institute proceedings for judicial review in the superior court within 30 days after receipt of such order or decision. Any proceedings in the superior court shall, insofar as applicable, be governed by section 14 of chapter 30A, and may be instituted in the superior court for the county: (i) where the parties or any of them reside or have their principal place of business within the commonwealth; (ii) where the commission has its principal place of business; or (iii) of Suffolk. The commencement of such proceedings shall not, unless specifically ordered by the court, operate as a stay of the commission’s order or decision.

SECTION 109. Section 3 of said chapter 159A1/2 is hereby amended by striking out the second paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:- (b) A transportation network company shall apply for a permit to be issued and annually renewed by the commission. No transportation network company shall operate without a permit issued to it by the commission.

SECTION 110. Said section 3 of said chapter 159A1/2 is hereby further amended by striking out the third paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:- (c) No application for a permit may be granted or renewed unless the commission determines that the rendering of transportation network services by the applicant is consistent with the public interest. At a minimum, each applicant for a permit shall verify the following:

SECTION 111. Said section 3 of said chapter 159A1/2 is hereby further amended by striking out the tenth paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:- (vii) that the applicant has a process in place to ensure that it shall: (1) maintain and update, pursuant to regulations promulgated by the commission, a roster of each transportation network driver certified by the applicant to provide pre-arranged rides using the transportation network company's digital network; (2) upon request and with appropriate legal process, provide those rosters to the commission, the registry of motor vehicles and to state and local law enforcement; (3) maintain and update those rosters as required by the commission; (4) comply with all requests for information from the commission regarding the roster, including verification of completion of a background check as required pursuant to clause (ii);

SECTION 112. Said section 3 of said chapter 159A1/2 is hereby further amended by striking out the fourteenth paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:- (d) After obtaining the information required under clause (ii) of subsection (c) of section 4, the commission shall determine whether the driver applicant has committed an offense that would disqualify the driver applicant from providing transportation network services, according to the commission’s’ rules, orders and regulations. The commission shall determine if the driver applicant is suitable and, if determined to be suitable, shall provide the transportation network company and the driver applicant with a background check clearance certificate. The commission shall conduct a background check pursuant to clause (ii) of subsection (c) of section 4 not less than annually. If the commission finds that a driver is not suitable under the annual background check, the commission shall notify the driver and each relevant transportation network company that the background check clearance certificate is revoked or suspended.

SECTION 113. Said section 3 of said chapter 159A1/2 is hereby further amended by striking out the fifteenth paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:- (e) The commission shall calculate and the secretary of administration and finance shall determine, pursuant to section 3B of chapter 7, the cost associated with the commission's review of an application for a transportation network company permit, for renewal of the permit and to issue background check clearance certificates. The commission may charge the transportation network company a reasonable fee to cover the costs.

SECTION 114. Section 4 of said chapter 159A1/2 is hereby amended by striking out the first paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:- (a) A driver who seeks to utilize the digital network of a transportation network company to provide pre-arranged rides shall apply to a transportation network company for a transportation network driver certificate. A person shall not provide transportation network services in the commonwealth without a valid background check clearance certificate and a transportation network driver certificate. The transportation network driver certificate shall be in a form prescribed by the commission which shall include the name, picture of the driver and the license plate number of the vehicle in use and shall post a certificate for each transportation network company that has certified the driver in a location in the vehicle that is visible to the rider while transportation network services are being provided. A transportation network company shall not issue a transportation network driver certificate to a driver applicant unless the transportation network company has verified that the driver has received a background check clearance certificate from the commission.

SECTION 115. Said section 4 of said chapter 159A1/2 is hereby further amended by striking out the second paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:- (b) At a minimum, and subject to such other requirements as the commission may establish by regulation, a transportation network company shall only issue a transportation network driver certificate to a driver who:

SECTION 116. Said section 4 of said chapter 159A1/2 is hereby further amended by striking out the eleventh paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:- (c) Prior to providing transportation network services, a driver applicant shall be subject to a 2–part background check process to determine if the driver applicant is suitable. The transportation network company shall: (i) conduct a background check and disqualify applicants on the basis of a suitability standard to be determined in regulations promulgated by the commission; and (ii) submit identifying information regarding an applicant to the commission, which shall refer that information to the department of criminal justice information services, which shall obtain all available criminal offender record information, as defined in section 167 of chapter 6, and pursuant to section 172 of said chapter 6 and sex offender registry information.

SECTION 117. Said section 4 of said chapter 159A1/2 is hereby further amended by striking out the twelfth paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:- (d) Not less than 2 times per year, the transportation network company shall conduct a background check pursuant to clause (i) of subsection (c) and shall immediately remove a driver from its digital network if the driver is found not suitable pursuant to the suitability standards to be determined in regulations promulgated by the commission.

SECTION 118. Said section 4 of said chapter 159A1/2 is hereby further amended by striking out the thirteenth paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:- (e) The transportation network company shall immediately suspend a transportation network driver's certificate, and notify the commission of the suspension, upon learning of and verifying a driver's arrest for a crime or a driver's citation for a driving infraction that would render the driver unsuitable to provide transportation network services. A transportation network company shall report such suspension, in a form and manner prescribed by the commission, to the commission, which shall ensure all transportation network companies that certified that driver take appropriate action. Any such suspension may be limited to the period of time necessary to determine whether continued provision of transportation network services by the driver is consistent with the public interest.

SECTION 119. Said section 4 of said chapter 159A1/2 is hereby further amended by striking out the fourteenth paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:- (f) In accordance with this section, the commission shall quarterly audit the driver certification and criminal background check processes of a transportation network company. Non-compliance with this section shall constitute cause for the commission to suspend or revoke a transportation network company permit pursuant to section 6.

SECTION 120. Said chapter 159A1/2 is hereby further amended by striking out section 6 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 6. (a) If the commission determines, after notice and a hearing, that a transportation network company is in violation of this chapter or any rule or regulation promulgated under this chapter, the commission shall issue a monetary penalty, suspend or revoke a transportation network company permit or take other action that the commission deems necessary. In determining the amount of the monetary penalty, the commission shall consider, without limitation, the size of the transportation network company based on a transportation network company's intrastate operating revenues for the previous calendar year, the gravity of the violation including noncompliance with the payment of commercial rate tolls as required in clause (v) of subsection (c) of section 3, the degree to which the transportation network company exercised good faith in attempting to achieve compliance or to remedy non-compliance and previous violations by the transportation network company cited by the commission.

The commission shall issue rules and regulations to establish a process for administrative appeal of any penalty, suspension or revocation imposed in accordance with this section.

(b) Any party aggrieved by a final order or decision of the commission pursuant to this section may institute proceedings for judicial review in the superior court within 30 days after receipt of such order or decision. Any proceedings in the superior court shall, insofar as applicable, be governed by the provisions of section 14 of chapter 30A, and may be instituted in the superior court for the county (i) where the parties or any of them reside or have their principal place of business within the commonwealth; (ii) where the commission has its principal place of business; or (iii) of Suffolk. The commencement of such proceedings shall not, unless specifically ordered by the court, operate as a stay of the commission’s’ order or decision.

SECTION 121. Said chapter 159A1/2 is hereby further amended by striking out section 8 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 8. (a) The commission shall require a transportation network company to maintain certain records, in addition to the records required by clause (vii) of subsection (c) of section 3 including, but not limited to, records pertaining to incidents reported to the transportation network company relative to a driver or rider, records pertaining to accessibility and records pertaining to pricing; provided, however, that the commission shall issue guidelines on the content and maintenance of incident reports. A transportation network company shall retain the incident reports for not less than 7 years. Each transportation network company or applicant for a transportation network company permit shall furnish all information and documents related to the condition, management and operation of the company upon the commission’s request; provided, however, that any such request shall be reasonably related to the requirements set forth in this chapter and the rules and regulations promulgated under this chapter. The failure to maintain or furnish information to the commission within a timeline to be determined by the commission may, at the discretion of the commission, constitute cause to not issue, suspend or revoke a transportation network company permit pursuant to section 6.

(b) A transportation network company shall provide to the commission a detailed monthly accounting of driver and passenger complaints received under clause (viii) of subsection (c) of section 3 and the actions the company has taken, if any, to resolve said complaints.

(c) In response to a specific complaint alleging criminal conduct against any transportation network company driver or passenger, a transportation network company shall, upon request and after being served with appropriate legal process, provide information to a requesting law enforcement agency necessary to investigate the complaint, as determined by the law enforcement agency.

Transportation network companies shall, after being served with appropriate legal process, provide information related to an alleged criminal incident including, but not limited to, trip specific details regarding origin and destination, length of trip, GPS coordinates of route, driver identification and, if applicable, information reported to the transportation network company regarding the alleged criminal activity by a driver or passenger, to the appropriate law enforcement agency upon receipt of a specific complaint alleging criminal conduct against any transportation network company driver or passenger.

(d) Any record furnished to the commission shall exclude information identifying drivers or riders, unless the commission explains, in writing, to the transportation network company why the information is necessary for the enforcement processes established in this chapter.

(e) Any record furnished to the commission or other state agency by a transportation network company pursuant to this chapter including, but not limited to, the roster of permitted transportation network drivers, shall not be considered a public record as defined in clause Twenty-sixth of section 7 of chapter 4 or chapter 66. An application for a transportation network company permit submitted pursuant to this chapter shall be a public record as defined in said clause Twenty-sixth of said section 7 of said chapter 4 or said chapter 66; provided, however, that such an application may be withheld from disclosure, in whole or in part, for reasons set forth in said clause Twenty-sixth of said section 7 of said chapter 4 or said chapter 66.

SECTION 122. Section 11 of said chapter 159A1/2 is hereby amended by striking out the word “division” and inserting in place thereof the following word:- commission

SECTION 123. Section 2 of chapter 159B of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out the fifth paragraph.

SECTION 124. Said section 2 of said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by striking out the eighth paragraph. 

SECTION 125. Said section 2 of said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by striking out the eleventh paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:- ''Interstate license or registration'' a license or registration granted by the  transportation commission to an interstate carrier by motor vehicle operating for compensation over ways.

SECTION 126. Said section 2 of said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by inserting after the thirteenth paragraph the following paragraph:- “Members”, members of the transportation commission.

SECTION 127. Said section 2 of said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by striking out the nineteenth paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:- ''Property'', any physical matter whatsoever, regardless of value, over which the right of ownership or control may be exercised, including currency, documents and papers of all kinds, except telegraphic messages transmitted by a telegraph company subject to the regulations of the department of telecommunications and cable and the Federal Communications Commission and except dead human bodies and property or equipment transported in connection with funerals.

SECTION 128. Said section 2 of said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by inserting after the twenty-second paragraph the following paragraph:- “Transportation Commission”, commission on transportation safety oversight and regulation.

SECTION 129. Said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by striking out section 3 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 3. No person shall engage in the business of a common carrier by motor vehicle upon any way unless there is in effect with respect to such carrier a certificate issued by the transportation commission authorizing the operations to be performed by such person.

(a) A certificate shall be issued to any qualified applicant therefor, authorizing the whole or any part of the operation covered by the application, if it is found that the applicant is fit, willing and able properly to perform the services proposed, and to conform to this chapter and the lawful requirements, orders, rules and regulations of the transportation commission thereunder, and that the proposed service to the extent authorized by the certificate is or will be required by the present or future public convenience and necessity; otherwise, such application shall be denied. Each application for such a certificate shall be made in writing in such form as the transportation commission may prescribe, shall be verified by oath or written declaration that it is made under the penalties of perjury, shall contain such information as the transportation commission may require, and shall be accompanied by a fee, the amount of which shall be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven for the filing thereof.

(b) Certificates shall be issued as provided in paragraph (a) of this section only after notice and a public hearing as hereinafter provided, and at the time of issuance, and from time to time thereafter, the exercise of the privileges granted by the certificate shall be subject to such reasonable terms, conditions and limitations as the public convenience and necessity may require, including such terms, conditions and limitations as to the extension of the route or routes of the carrier as are necessary to carry out, with respect to his operations, the general orders, rules and regulations adopted and established by the transportation commission under authority of this chapter; provided, that no such terms, conditions or limitations shall restrict the right of the carrier to add to his equipment and facilities over the routes, between the termini, or within the territory specified in the certificate, as the development of the business and the demands of the public shall require. A hearing under this paragraph shall be held twice a month in the city of Boston and once a month in each of the cities of Fall River, Lowell, Pittsfield, Springfield and Worcester and in each of the towns of Greenfield and Plymouth, at a time and place to be determined by the transportation commission. A written notice of such hearing shall be mailed by the transportation commission at least seven days before the date fixed therefor to the applicant, to the commissioner of highways, to every railroad and electric railway company serving any part of the route proposed to be served by the applicant, and to each person filing with the transportation commission a written request for such notice; and a copy of such notice, including a list of the applications to be heard, shall be posted, at least seven days before the date fixed for the hearing, in the office of the transportation commission and in the building wherein such hearing is to be held. Under such general or special rules and regulations as the members may prescribe, a common carrier by motor vehicle operating under any such certificate may occasionally deviate from the route over which, and the fixed termini between which, he is authorized to operate under the certificate.

(c) Any regular or irregular route common carrier who, during any period of not less than ninety consecutive days since the fifth day of June, nineteen hundred and forty-six, fails or has failed to render any part of the service authorized by his certificate except for the reason that the ways over which he must operate are impassable because of floods, condition of the highways or for other reasonable causes shall be deemed to have abandoned that part of the service authorized by his certificate, and if, after a hearing, the transportation commission finds that such carrier has so failed to render service in accordance with his certificate, and not for any reason set forth in the foregoing exceptions, his rights thereto to the extent of his failure to render service shall be forfeited and the transportation commission shall reissue his certificate subject to the resulting limitations.

(d) If it shall appear to the transportation commission, after a hearing, that any regular route or irregular route common carrier has failed to file, before the expiration of thirty days after the notice to so file, rates covering his operations to all points covered by his certificate, or at any time thereafter, has failed for a period of not less than thirty consecutive days to keep on file rates, covering all such operations, his rights thereto, to the extent of his failure to file or keep on file rates as herein set forth, shall be forfeited and the transportation commission shall reissue his certificate subject to the resulting limitations.

SECTION 130. Section 4 of said chapter 159B is hereby amended by striking out the second paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:- No person shall engage in the business of a contract carrier by motor vehicle upon any way unless there is in effect with respect to said carrier a permit issued by the transportation commission authorizing him to transport property within the limits set forth in such permit.

SECTION 131. Said section 4 of said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by striking out the fifth paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:- Such permits shall be in a form prescribed by the transportation commission and may be issued for the partial exercise only of the privilege sought. The transportation commission may specify in the permit the operations covered thereby, including the name of each shipper which the carrier is authorized to serve and, if so limited, the carrier may not serve any shipper not so specified except with the approval of the transportation commission in accordance with such reasonable rules and regulations as the transportation commission may from time to time establish. At the time of issuance and from time to time thereafter the transportation commission may attach to the permit such terms and conditions, not inconsistent with the status of the holder as a contract carrier, as the public interest may require; provided, that no terms, conditions or limitations shall restrict the right of the carrier to substitute or add contracts within the scope of his permit, or to add to his equipment and facilities over the routes, between the termini, or within the territory, specified in the permit, as the development of his business and the demands of the public shall require.

SECTION 132. Said section 4 of said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by striking out paragraph 6 and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:- Any contract carrier by motor vehicle, who, during any period of not less than one year since the first day of July, nineteen hundred and fifty-one, fails or has failed to render any part of the service authorized by his permit, except for the reason that the ways over which he must operate are impassable because of floods, conditions of the highway or for other reasonable causes, shall be deemed to have abandoned that part of the service authorized by his permit, and if, after a hearing, the transportation commission finds that such carrier has so failed to render service in accordance with his permit, and not for any reason set forth in the foregoing exceptions, his rights thereto, to the extent of his failure to render service, shall be forfeited and the transportation commission shall reissue his permit subject to the resulting limitations.

SECTION 133. Said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by striking out section 5 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 5. (a) No person shall for compensation sell or offer for sale transportation subject to this chapter, and no person shall make any contract, agreement or arrangement to provide, procure, furnish or arrange for such transportation or hold himself out by advertisement, solicitation or otherwise as one who sells, provides, procures, contracts or arranges for such transportation, unless such person holds a broker's license issued by the transportation commission authorizing him to engage in such transactions; provided, that no such person shall engage in transportation subject to this chapter unless he holds a certificate or permit as provided therein. In the execution of any contract, agreement or arrangement to sell, provide, procure, furnish or arrange for such transportation, no broker shall employ any motor carrier who is not the holder of a certificate or permit under which he may lawfully undertake the transportation in question. This paragraph shall not apply to any motor carrier holding a certificate or a permit or to any bona fide employee or agent of such motor carrier, so far as concerns transportation to be furnished wholly by such carrier, or jointly with other motor carriers holding like certificates or permits, or with a common carrier by railroad, express or water.

(b) A broker's license shall be issued to any qualified applicant therefor, authorizing the whole or any part of the operations covered by the application, if it is found that the applicant is fit, willing and able properly to perform the service proposed and to conform to this chapter and the lawful requirements, orders, rules and regulations of the transportation commission thereunder, and that the proposed service, to the extent authorized by the license, is or will be consistent with the public interest and the policy declared in this chapter; otherwise, such application shall be denied. Each application for such a license shall be made in the same manner as is provided in paragraph (a) of section three for applications for certificates, and shall be accompanied by a fee, the amount of which shall be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven for the filing thereof.

The commissioner of administration shall determine annually, under the provision of section three B of chapter seven, reasonable fees which may be charged by brokers to shippers or motor carriers; provided, however, that no broker shall charge, for his services as a broker, any fee to any motor carrier engaged in dump truck operations, nor shall any such motor carrier pay any fee to any broker for such services.

(c) The transportation commission shall from time to time prescribe reasonable rules and regulations for the protection of shippers by motor vehicle, to be observed by all persons holding brokers' licenses, and no such license shall be issued or remain in force unless the applicant or licensee shall have furnished a bond or other security to the commonwealth, approved by the transportation commission, in such form and amount as will insure financial responsibility and the supplying of authorized transportation in accordance with contracts, agreements or arrangements therefor.

(d) The transportation commission and its agents and examiners shall have the same authority as to accounts, reports and records, including inspection and preservation thereof, of any person holding a broker's license as they have under this chapter with respect to accounts, reports and records of motor carriers subject thereto.

(e) All brokers licensed under this chapter shall file with the transportation commission tariffs in the same form and manner as prescribed by this chapter for common carriers by motor vehicle.

(f) Brokers' licenses shall be non-transferable.

SECTION 134. Said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by striking out section 6 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 6. Every common carrier by motor vehicle shall publish and file with the transportation commission and keep open for public inspection tariffs containing all the rates and charges for transportation of property and all services in connection therewith between points on its own routes, and between points on its own routes and points on the routes of any other such carrier or on the route of any common carrier by railroad, express or water when a through route and joint rate shall have been established. Such rates and charges shall be stated in lawful money of the United States. The transportation commission may reject any tariff filed with it which is not consistent with this section and with its orders, rules and regulations under this chapter.

Every such common carrier shall establish, observe and enforce just and reasonable rates, charges and classifications and reasonable regulations and practices relating thereto, which shall become effective on a date fixed by such carrier, which shall be at least thirty days after the filing of the tariff containing the same, unless suspended by the transportation commission prior to its effective date upon complaint of any person, organization or body politic, or by the transportation commission on its own motion; provided, that a rate may be established to become effective within said thirty days in order to meet the then existing rate of any competing common carrier, in which case it may become effective upon the effective date of the rate of such competing common carrier or at any time thereafter if established thereafter, upon the filing of a tariff or supplement thereto consistent with such reasonable rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the transportation commission.

The transportation commission may establish from time to time such reasonable rules and regulations as it may deem necessary pertaining to the form of tariff schedules, the time and manner of filing thereof, the suspension of rates before the same become effective, and hearings upon the validity of any filed or existing rate.

The transportation commission, in its discretion and for good cause shown, may allow publication of rates or of changes therein, upon notice less than that herein specified, or may modify the requirements of this section with respect to posting and filing of tariffs, either in particular instances or by general order applicable to special or peculiar circumstances or conditions.

The transportation commission, upon complaint of any common carrier by motor vehicle or of any other person, or upon its own motion, after hearing, may allow or disallow any filed or existing rates and may alter or prescribe the rates of common carriers in connection with the transportation of any or all classes of property to any and all points within the commonwealth and any service connected therewith, in accordance with the legal standards provided in this chapter. Whenever, upon complaint or in an investigation on its own initiative, the transportation commission, after hearing, shall be of the opinion that any rate or charge demanded, charged or collected by any common carrier by motor vehicle, or any classification, rule, regulation or practice whatsoever of such carrier affecting such rate, charge or the value of the service thereunder, is or will be unjust or prejudicial, it shall determine and prescribe the lawful rate of charge, or the lawful classification, rule, regulation or practice thereafter to be made effective. The transportation commission shall annually establish reasonable maximum and minimum rates or charges consistent with industry and economic conditions and consistent with the declaration of policy contained in section one.

In the exercise of the power to prescribe just and reasonable rates for the transportation of property by common carriers by motor vehicle and to disallow rates filed by any such carrier, the transportation commission shall give due consideration, among other factors, to the inherent advantages of transportation by such carrier, to the effect of any rates under consideration upon the movement of traffic by such carriers, to the need in the public interest of adequate and efficient transportation service by such carriers, to the cost of service and to the need of revenues sufficient to enable such carriers under honest, economical and efficient management to provide such service.

No common carrier by motor vehicle, unless otherwise provided by this chapter, shall engage in the transportation of property upon any way, unless the rates and charges upon which the same is transported by said carrier shall have been filed and published in accordance with this chapter.

SECTION 135. Section 6A of said chapter 159B is hereby amended by striking out, in line 18, the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 136. Said section 6A of said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 23, the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 137. Section 6B of said chapter 159B is hereby amended by striking out the first paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:- The transportation commission shall establish the maximum charges that may be made by persons subject to the provisions of this chapter for the towing away of motor vehicles, when such towing is ordered by the police or other public authority. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, a city or town by vote of its council or selectmen may establish the maximum rate that may be charged for the towing away of motor vehicles within its jurisdiction, but the maximum rate charged by a city or town shall not exceed the maximum rate established by the transportation commission. The transportation commission shall issue a decision on a written request for adjustment of the maximum charges not more than 12 months after its receipt of that request.

SECTION 138. Said section 6B of said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by striking out the fourth paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:- The motor vehicle storage facility shall have a lien for its proper transportation and storage charges due them for the towing, transportation and storage of motor vehicles, pursuant to this section. Said lien may be enforced under the sale provisions of section thirty-nine A of chapter two hundred and fifty-five. Nothing contained in this section shall in any way affect the liability of said motor vehicle storage facilities, nor to limit the maximum recovery of a carrier for his lawful removal and transportation charges as established by the transportation commission and storage charges as established by this section to the value of any vehicle involuntarily removed, transported and stored.

SECTION 139. Said section 6B of said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by striking out the fifth paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:- Every person engaged in the towing away of motor vehicles, under this section, shall annually, on or before March the thirty-first, transmit to the transportation commission a financial statement on a form prescribed by the transportation commission, reflecting the net profits for the preceding year from such towing operation. A person who fails to make such return, within the time herein provided, shall forfeit twenty-five dollars for each day after March thirty-first that said return is not so filed.

SECTION 140. Section 6D of said chapter 159B is hereby amended by striking out the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 141: Said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by striking out section 7 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 7. (a) Every contract carrier by motor vehicle, other than contract carriers by armored motor vehicles of bullion, currency, securities, negotiable and non-negotiable documents, jewels, and other precious and very valuable articles, shall file with the transportation commission a copy of every contract for the transportation of property by motor vehicle in effect in connection with its operations, which shall be in writing and shall be executed by all parties thereto. The period of time during which such contract shall be in force, the charges for transportation and accessorial service, if any, and the duties and obligations of all parties thereto, shall be specifically stated therein, and said copies shall be kept on file in the transportation commission, and shall be open to public inspection. The transportation commission may also in its discretion require all contract carriers to file schedules of their minimum charges, each of which schedules shall contain a list of all parties with whom contracts are or may from time to time be in effect, and a statement of the charge for each service performed thereunder, without designation of the party for whom the same are being or are to be performed. Such schedules shall be kept on file in the transportation commission and shall be open to public inspection. Any change in such minimum charges shall become effective not less than thirty days after the filing of such change with the transportation commission; provided, that the transportation commission may in its discretion and for good cause shown allow such change to become effective within a lesser period.

(b) No such carrier shall demand, charge or collect compensation for such transportation different from that provided for in his written contract, or less than that contained in the minimum schedule of charges, if any, filed therewith, or prescribed by the transportation commission from time to time, and no such carrier, by the furnishing of any special service, facility or privilege, or by any other device whatsoever, shall in effect charge, accept or receive for any transportation or service less than the minimum charge, if any, established therefor under this section.

(c) Whenever, after hearing, upon a complaint or upon its own initiative, the transportation commission finds that any charge of any contract carrier by motor vehicle or any rule, regulation or practice of any such carrier affecting such charge or the value of the services thereunder for the transportation of property upon ways, contravenes the policy declared in section one or causes an undue or unreasonable advantage or preference to any such carrier in competition with any other motor carrier, the transportation commission, giving due consideration to the cost of services rendered by such carrier, may prescribe such charge, rule, regulation or practice as in its judgment may be necessary or desirable in the public interest. The charges of said contract carriers by motor vehicle for transportation shall in general be no less than those of common carriers by motor vehicle for the same or similar service.

SECTION 142. Section 8 of said chapter 159B is hereby amended by striking out the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission

SECTION 143. Said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by striking out section 9 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 9. A single distinguishing plate shall be prescribed and furnished by the transportation commission annually for each of the vehicles necessary for the conduct of the business of the holder of the certificate or permit, upon his application to the transportation commission, and said plates shall be prominently displayed on the front of each such vehicle whenever operated. Each such plate shall be accompanied by a certificate issued by the transportation commission, which shall be in the possession of the driver at all times while operating and shall set forth the make, manufacturer's serial number, if any, and motor number, if any, of the vehicle with respect to which said plate shall be used. As used in this section and in section ten, the word ''vehicle'' shall include a tractor, with or without a semi-trailer unit. No such plate shall be transferred from one vehicle to another, except upon authority and with the consent of the transportation commission and upon payment of a transfer fee, except as provided in section ten B. The annual charge for each plate shall be ten dollars. The amount of the aforementioned transfer fee and the annual charge for each plate shall be determined by the commissioner of administration annually under the provision of section three B of chapter seven.

SECTION 144. Section 10 of said chapter 159B is hereby amended by striking out the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission

SECTION 145. Said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by striking out section 10B and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 10B. The transportation commission may issue distinguishing plates to motor carriers and interstate licensees to be used only on motor vehicles temporarily leased by such carriers. Any plates so issued may be transferred from one such vehicle to another such vehicle leased by a carrier to whom such plate was originally issued. The transportation commission shall keep a record of plates issued to each carrier for use on leased vehicles. The motor carrier or interstate licensee shall keep a record of the use of such plates, setting forth the names and addresses of the lessors and the drivers, engine and serial numbers of the vehicles used, duration of the lease, the identifying numbers of the plates and the date each such plate was placed on any leased vehicle and the date such plate was removed therefrom. A copy of the lease shall be carried on each vehicle under temporary lease engaged in interstate operations within the commonwealth. The transportation commission may make such rules and regulations relative to the issuance and use of such plates as it deems necessary and proper, and for just cause may revoke, recall, or prohibit the use of any plate issued under this section. Failure to keep full and complete records under this section shall be cause for such revocation. An annual charge, for each plate issued under this section shall be determined by the commissioner of administration under the provisions of section three B of chapter seven and shall apply to all such applications notwithstanding the provisions of section ten.

SECTION 146. Said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by striking out section 11 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 11. Any irregular route certificate or any permit may be wholly assigned and transferred, and any regular route certificate or license may be assigned and transferred, in whole or in part, if consistent with the public interest and with the approval and consent of the transportation commission after public notice in the manner provided in paragraph (b) of section three and a public hearing at which the proposed transferee shall have established to the satisfaction of the transportation commission his willingness, fitness and ability to perform or furnish transportation for compensation under such certificate, permit or license in conformance with all lawful requirements, orders, rules and regulations of the transportation commission established under this chapter; provided, however, that no certificate and no permit shall be transferred except in connection with the sale to the transferee of a bona fide business of the transferor, who shall not thereafter for the period of at least one year hold any certificate or permit containing authority similar to that so transferred.

In the event of the decease, incompetency, insolvency, bankruptcy or corporate reorganization under the bankruptcy law of the United States, of a holder of a certificate, permit or license under this chapter, the transportation commission, upon application of his executor, administrator, guardian, conservator, assignee, trustee or receiver and upon payment of the fee required by this section, shall conditionally transfer such certificate, permit or license to such fiduciary, pending the decision by the transportation commission as to the fitness, willingness and ability of said transferee to conduct the operations of business authorized by said certificate, permit or license. In the event of the decease, incompetency, insolvency or bankruptcy of a member of a partnership holding such a certificate, permit or license, the transportation commission, upon application of the surviving or remaining partners, or of the executor, administrator, guardian, conservator, assignee, trustee or receiver of the deceased, incompetent, insolvent or bankrupt partner, may make a like conditional transfer to the surviving or remaining partners. Upon application of an executor, administrator, guardian, conservator, assignee, trustee, receiver, surviving or remaining partner and upon payment of the fee required by this section the transportation commission may transfer such certificate, permit or license in accordance with the provisions of this chapter direct from the original holder to any person named in such application and approved by the transportation commission.

No person shall operate upon any way as a common carrier by motor vehicle, contract carrier by motor vehicle or interstate licensee, or conduct business as a broker, except a bona fide holder of a certificate, permit or license, as the case may be, and neither by loan, assignment, option for purchase or any means whatsoever shall any person be permitted to defeat the requirements of this section with respect to the transfer of certificates, permits and licenses. Each application for the assignment and transfer, in whole or in part, of any certificate, permit or license shall be accompanied by a fee, the amount of which shall be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven for the filing thereof. The transportation commission shall make any necessary rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this section.

No person, firm, trust or corporation subject to the jurisdiction of the transportation commission shall hereafter purchase, acquire, take or hold, directly or indirectly, any part of the capital stock of any motor carrier subject to the provisions of this chapter, nor shall any person or associated group of persons or any firm, trust or corporation, who or which is not subject to the jurisdiction of the transportation commission, acquire, take or hold, directly or indirectly, fifty per cent or more of the voting capital stock of a motor carrier subject to this chapter, unless authorized so to do by the transportation commission. No change shall be made in the stock structure of a motor carrier subject to the jurisdiction of the transportation commission whereby control of the corporation is affected unless said change is approved by the transportation commission. No consent shall be given by the transportation commission to the acquisition as aforesaid unless it shall have been shown that such acquisition is consistent with the public interest, and if such consent is given in whole or in part the transportation commission may impose such terms and conditions as it shall deem to be in the public interest. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the holding of any stock heretofore lawfully acquired by a person, firm, trust or corporation, or, upon the surrender or exchange of said stock pursuant to an agreement of consolidation or merger or a reorganization plan, to prevent the purchase, acquisition, taking or holding of the voting capital stock of the new corporation organized pursuant to such agreement or plan to take over the property of any corporation whose stock has been thus surrendered or exchanged, or to prevent the purchase, acquisition, taking or holding of any further issue of stock, provided such further issue does not increase the proportion of voting capital stock held by such person, firm, trust or corporation, nor shall it apply to interstate carriers of property. Each application for authority from the transportation commission to purchase, acquire, take or hold, any part of the capital stock of any motor carrier subject to the provisions of this chapter shall be accompanied by a fee, the amount of which shall be determined pursuant to the aforementioned chapter seven provision.

SECTION 147. Section 11A of said chapter 159B is hereby amended by striking out, in line 4, the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 148. Said section 11A of said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 8, the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 149. Said section 11A of said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 14, the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 150. Said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by striking out section 12 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 12. Any certificate, permit or license may, upon application of the holder thereof and after notice and hearing as provided by paragraph (b) of section three, be amended. Any permit, certificate or license, upon written application of the holder thereof to the transportation commission, may, without such notice and hearing, be suspended or revoked in whole or in part.

After a hearing, at least ten days' notice whereof shall be mailed to the holder of the certificate, permit or license in question at the address shown on the transportation commission records, the transportation commission may revoke, or suspend for such period of time as it may deem fit, any such certificate, permit or license, in whole or in part, for any violation of any provision of this chapter or of the orders, rules and regulations of the transportation commission made, adopted or established under authority thereof, or of any lawful requirement, condition, limitation or restriction contained in such certificate, permit or license. Any such certificate, permit or license shall remain in effect unless and until revoked by the transportation commission as herein provided, but subject to suspension as aforesaid.

No such certificate, permit or license shall be transferred, without the consent of the transportation commission, pending any complaint or hearing upon or in which the question of its revocation or suspension depends or is involved, and the effect of such revocation or suspension shall not be avoided by any such transfer, or by a transfer thereafter or by any other device or subterfuge.

SECTION 151. Section 12A of said chapter 159B is hereby amended by striking the word “director” and inserting in place thereof the following word:- chair 

SECTION 152. Said section 12A of said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by striking out the word “division” and inserting in place thereof the following word:- commission 

SECTION 153. Section 14 of said chapter 159B is hereby amended by striking the words “twelve F of chapter twenty-five” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- 2(a) of chapter 22F

SECTION 154. Said section 14 of said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by striking out the words “department or the director of the transportation division” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 155. Said section 14 of said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by striking out the word “twenty-five” and inserting in place thereof the following word:- 22F

SECTION 156. Section 15 of said chapter 159B is hereby amended by striking out, in line 1, the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 157. Said section 15 of said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 11-12, the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 158. Said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by striking out section 15A and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 15A. No person shall engage in the business of an agricultural carrier by motor vehicle unless there is in effect with respect to such carrier an agricultural carrier's permit issued by the transportation commission. Each application for such a permit shall be in writing in such form and contain such information as the transportation commission may require and be verified by oath or written declaration that it is made under the penalties of perjury. Upon the filing of such an application the transportation commission shall hold a hearing, with or without the notice required by paragraph (b) of section three, and if it finds that the applicant is fit, willing and able to provide the services proposed and otherwise to conform to this chapter and the lawful requirements, orders, rules and regulations of the transportation commission thereunder, may issue an agricultural carrier's permit to the applicant, upon the filing of a schedule of rates and charges acceptable to the transportation commission; otherwise, such application shall be denied. The transportation commission shall specify in the permit the operations covered thereby at the time of issuance and from time to time thereafter shall attach to it such terms and conditions, not inconsistent with the status of the holder as an agricultural carrier, as the public interest may require. A suitable distinguishing plate shall be prescribed and furnished by the transportation commission annually for each of the vehicles necessary for the conduct of the business of the holder of the permit. Section nine shall apply to such plates except that the annual charge for each such plate shall be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven.

SECTION 159. Section 16 of said chapter 159B is hereby amended by striking out the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 160. Said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by striking out section 16A and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 16A. The transportation commission, in the enforcement of this chapter, may inspect or cause to be produced the books and records of persons engaged in the business of leasing trucks and motor vehicles, or either, for the transportation of property for hire, and may compel such persons to furnish such information as the transportation commission may find necessary relative to the identity of the lessee, or the use to which any such truck or motor vehicle is to be put, or both.

SECTION 161. Section 16B of said chapter 159B is hereby amended by striking out the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 162. Said section 16B of said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by striking out the word “MDPU” and inserting in place thereof the word:- MTC

SECTION 163. Section 17 of said chapter 159B is hereby amended by striking the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 164. Section 18 of said chapter 159B is hereby amended by striking out the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 165. Section 19A of said chapter 159B is hereby amended by striking out the word “department” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- transportation commission 

SECTION 166. Said chapter 159B is hereby further amended by striking out section 21 and inserting in place thereof the following section:- Section 21. Whoever violates any provision of this chapter, or any order, rule or regulation adopted or established thereunder, or any lawful requirement, condition, limitation or restriction contained in any certificate, permit or license, shall be punished, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, for a first offense by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars and for any subsequent offense by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars; and, in addition, the supreme judicial and superior courts shall severally have jurisdiction in equity to restrain any such violation upon petition of the transportation commission, or of any person, organization or body politic affected by such violation.

Any such person, organization or body politic may file with the transportation commission a complaint of any such violation, and the transportation commission shall within seven calendar days investigate such complaint, and shall within fourteen calendar days issue an order for remedial action if warranted or shall order hearings to be conducted within a period of twenty-one calendar days from the date of the transportation commission’s order. Continuances of hearings on such complaint for any reason shall not be allowed beyond a period of twenty-one calendar days from the date of the last preceding hearing date. Upon completion of all hearings deemed necessary the transportation commission shall render a decision no later than ninety days from the date of the last hearing held on such a complaint. The transportation commission may hold a hearing on the question of revocation of the certificate, permit or license of any motor carrier, broker or interstate licensee complained against and may institute in any court of the commonwealth in the county or district wherein the carrier shall have a place of business, or in the county or district wherein the violation occurred, such action, suit or complaint as may be necessary to enforce compliance with any provision of this chapter or any rule, regulation or order of the transportation commission thereunder, or any lawful requirement, condition, limitation or restriction contained in any certificate, permit or license.

SECTION 167. Notwithstanding any special or general law, rule or regulation to the contrary, all initial appointments to the commission on transportation safety oversight and regulation established in chapter 22F of the General Laws shall be made no later than the effective date of this act. The commission may phase in, based on transportation segment or safety and regulatory function, its assumption of responsibilities and commencement of operations; provided, that the commission shall assume its full responsibilities and begin full operations not later than 15 months after the effective date of this act, on a specific date determined by the commission within this period.