BOSTON (AP) — Three Massachusetts lawmakers are joining with a regional planning advocacy group to call for higher charges for ride-hailing organizations like Uber and Lyft.
The advocates say the higher charges could help decrease traffic and raise income for urban communities and towns to invest in transportation projects.
The Democratic legislators — Sen. Brendan Crighton of Lynn and Reps. Jay Livingstone of Boston and Cambridge and Adrian Madaro of Boston — recorded the bill alongside the Metropolitan Area Planning Council to build charges forced on purported transportation network organizations. Current charges are 20 pennies for every ride.
The bill would make an expense structure of 6.25 percent of each ride for single-rider trips, or 4.25 percent for shared treks.
The cash would be split between the municipality where a ride originated, the state and a taxi industry fund.