WESTFIELD – Discussions about specific aspects surrounding the future of transportation in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts were underway on Monday as the Conference Committee of the State Legislature had their first meeting in the State House hearing room.
The Conference Committee, which is composed of three members of the House as well as three from the Senate, is in the midst of preparing a bill. The full details of the bill can’t currently be revealed until the committee officially reaches an overall decision towards the bill.
Centered on ride-sharing companies like Uber, Lyft, and Fasten, the bill will include regulations for the these types of companies.
The House and Senate are in the works of finding a compromise in order to make further progress on the bill. The committee looked at all the areas that both the House and the Senate have in common and also went through their differences as well.
Focusing on the existing cab companies, the House wants to make sure the cabs can still operate at their most common areas. A prime example is in Boston, where cab companies will constantly have business at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center as well as Logan International Airport.
State Senator Don Humason speaks with Westfield News reporter Greg Fitzpatrick. (Westfield News file photo)
The Senate is gearing towards a more innovative business model by using the growth of the ride-sharing industry as a positive advantage for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
With the two perspectives, both parties will have their own separate bill. The Committee’s purpose is to bring the two perspectives together.
“The role of the conference committee is to take the two district bills and craft one bill,” said Sen. Donald Humason.
Humason, who represents the 2nd Hampden and Hampshire District, including Westfield, is a minority leader in the Conference Committee.
Humason believes that ride-sharing companies can directly help Westfield and the other communities of the district that he serves.
“I like the fact that Uber and it’s supposed sister companies really serve an underserved population out here,” said Humason.
In Humason’s district, he has seen the issues that communities can have with transportation. Whether it is trying to get onto the PVTA (Pioneer Valley Transit Authority) bus or calling for a cab, the opportunities can be limited and the wait for a cab can be potentially long.
Humason expressed his opinion on how the emergence of ride-sharing companies is beneficial to the current state of society.
“Especially (society) being driven by millennials, by entrepreneurs, by business people, they like the idea of having those transportation assets at their cell phone,” said Humason.
There is one definite agreement that the committee has reached on as they are attempting to regulate background checks on the drivers of the ride-sharing companies. Safety is a main cause of concern for the committee and would like to see the background checks become a regulation as part of the bill.
Humason noted how Boston is the only city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts who requires fingerprints for the drivers of Uber, Lyft, Fasten and as well as the cab companies.
As regulations will continue to be discussed in the ongoing meetings, Humason sees the overall benefit the ride-sharing companies have for communities in and near the district that he represents.
“The industry provides a valuable resource for us in Western Massachusetts where we always had limited public transportation options,” said Humason.
In the meantime, Uber, Lyft, and Fasten can continue their normal every-day operations. The committee’s proposal on the bill has to be done by July 31. The Conference Committee is set to meet again at the State House on Tuesday afternoon to further negotiations with the bill.
