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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3417 FILED ON: 1/20/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3373 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Adrian C. Madaro |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act relative to low income transit fares. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Adrian C. Madaro1st Suffolk1/20/2023Samantha Montaño15th Suffolk1/25/2023Steven Owens29th Middlesex1/25/2023Michael D. BradySecond Plymouth and Norfolk1/25/2023Kate Donaghue19th Worcester1/30/2023Jon Santiago9th Suffolk2/13/2023Mary S. Keefe15th Worcester2/13/2023Jack Patrick Lewis7th Middlesex2/13/2023Sal N. DiDomenicoMiddlesex and Suffolk2/13/2023Vanna Howard17th Middlesex2/13/2023James B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester2/13/2023Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire2/15/2023Peter Capano11th Essex2/15/2023Christopher J. Worrell5th Suffolk2/21/2023Daniel Cahill10th Essex2/21/2023Kate Lipper-Garabedian32nd Middlesex2/24/2023Paul R. FeeneyBristol and Norfolk3/6/2023 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3417 FILED ON: 1/20/2023 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3373 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Madaro of Boston, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3373) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Adrian C. Madaro and others for legislation to authorize discounted transit fares for low income |
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| 20 | 20 | | riders. Transportation. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act relative to low income transit fares. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 SECTION 1. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, in coordination with the secretary of health and |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3human services, shall implement a low-income fare program that provides free or discounted |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4transit fares to qualifying riders on all modes of transportation operated by the authority. |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5 (b) In developing the low-income fare program, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6Authority shall develop a stakeholder engagement plan and implementation analysis. The |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7engagement plan shall ensure engagement with relevant stakeholders and provide opportunities |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8for public input in geographically-diverse service areas of the authority. The analysis shall |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9include, but not be limited to, an examination of: (i) the number of riders anticipated to benefit |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10from the program; (ii) the average reductions of each fare, by mode; (iii) the overall impact on |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11revenue to the system; (iv) partnership models for determining eligibility requirements and the |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12verification method; and (v) estimated costs associated with the administration and marketing of 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13the program. The implementation analysis shall be filed with the clerks of the senate and house |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14of representatives, the senate and house committees on ways and means and the joint committee |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15on transportation not later than October 15, 2023. |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16 SECTION 2. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the regional |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17transit authority council established in section 27 of chapter 161B of the General Laws, in |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18coordination with the secretary of health and human services, may provide each regional transit |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19authority with assistance to implement a low-income fare program that provides free or |
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| 48 | 48 | | 20discounted transit fares to qualifying riders on all modes of transportation operated by each |
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| 49 | 49 | | 21authority. |
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| 50 | 50 | | 22 (b) In developing the low-income fare program, each regional transit authority shall |
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| 51 | 51 | | 23develop a stakeholder engagement plan and an implementation analysis. The engagement plan |
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| 52 | 52 | | 24shall ensure engagement with relevant stakeholders and provide opportunities for public input in |
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| 53 | 53 | | 25geographically-diverse service areas of the authority. The analysis shall include, but not be |
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| 54 | 54 | | 26limited to, an examination of: (i) the number of riders anticipated to benefit from the program; |
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| 55 | 55 | | 27(ii) the average reduction of each fare, by mode; (iii) the overall impact on revenue to the system; |
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| 56 | 56 | | 28(iv) partnership models for determining eligibility requirements and the verification method; (v) |
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| 57 | 57 | | 29any estimated costs associated with the administration and marketing of the program; and (vi) |
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| 58 | 58 | | 30consideration of a no-fare option if that would be cheaper to implement than a means-tested fare |
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| 59 | 59 | | 31program. |
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