EDITORIAL: Massachusetts must raise fees on Uber, Lyft to fund infrastructure, forgotten workers

Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) such as Uber and Lyft have greatly benefited the average Bostonian. When the T isn’t running or when it’s just too cold to walk to your closest stop, these services are often the best alternative transportation method.

Moreover, if you live in a transportation desert — where access to the MBTA is nonexistent —  these companies provide a much-needed option.

Yet TNCs do not reduce congestion or pollution in large, dense cities such as Boston, according to Bruce Shaller, a consultant and the former deputy commissioner of traffic and planning at the New York City Department of Transportation.

Schaller wrote that “about 60 percent of TNC users in large, dense cities would have taken public transportation, walked, biked or not made the trip if TNCs had not been available for the trip, while 40 percent would have used their own car or a taxi.”

In response to the growth of TNCs across the state, Massachusetts Sen. Brendan Crighton of Lynn, Rep. Jay Livingstone of Boston and Cambridge, Rep. Adrian Madaro of Boston and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council are proposing a bill to levy increased fees on these services.

Current fees are 20 cents per ride, and the new legislation would change the fee structure to be 6.25 percent for single-rider trips and 4.25 percent for shared trips.

Importantly, this new revenue would be shared between the municipality in which the ride originated, the state and a taxi industry fund.

It’s doubtful that the fee increase will do much to affect congestion in and around Boston. However, the greater funds raised will certainly help pay for necessary public works projects and neglected taxi drivers.

The taxi industry from New York to Chicago to Boston has been decimated by the innovation of TNCs. The cost of a taxi medallion, which allows a person to drive a taxi, plummeted 95 percent from its highs prior to the advent of Uber and Lyft.

The Boston Herald reported in October 2018 that one medallion, which was sold for $685,000 in May 2014, was sold for less than $59,000 four years later.

However, TNCs have improved on many of the faults in the taxi monopolies of major U.S. cities. Being able to request a ride at the power of one’s thumb allows for much more convenient travel within cities and suburbs. And being able to see routes mapped out on a phone screen is reassuring for safety.

But we still must have compassion and consideration for the people who work and have worked in the undeniably dying taxi industry.

Taxi drivers affected by this evolving technology — whether through outdated, high-cost leases or ownership of a medallion — should be compensated. This could be limited to drivers who started prior to the rise of Uber and Lyft and certainly should not include wealthy investors who owned multiple medallions.

Funding to the Commonwealth, as well as individual municipalities, will also aid the development of public transportation and infrastructure.

Uber and Lyft use public roads every day, so they should pay to use this public utility. By taxing them at a higher rate, Massachusetts can better repair its roads, bridges and tunnels. Indirectly funding the MBTA will encourage a lesser reliance on driving in general, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

This bill should be considered for debate by all state legislators. Taxing TNCs is a logical policy, even if it does increase the cost to the consumer. Yet 20 cents per trip, the rate that stands now, will not make enough of a difference. We must think more boldly about managing the new gig economy.