Fees On Rideshare Services Have Provided $4.2 Million For Boston Transportation Projects

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Fees on rideshare services Uber and Lyft are helping local sustainable transportation projects throughout Boston. Despite these two companies’ contributions toward bad traffic in the area, both have paid millions to help with transportation initiatives.

Twenty cents per ride is the fee that is split between the state and local municipality where the ride originates. So far, millions of dollars have been poured into sustainable transportation projects not just in Boston but throughout the state of Massachusetts. Boston accounted for more than half of the state’s Uber and Lyft rides and collected $4.2 million from the 42 million rides in the city.

There are many ways the money is being used. In Boston, $1 million went to rebuilding and repairing sidewalks in 2018. The focus was on lower-income neighborhoods where the rates of walking were higher. Another $509,5050 went toward redesigning key intersections and corridors and included safety improvements for Massachusetts Avenue through the Boston Medical Center, design for the Connect Downtown project, and for safer crosswalks along the Southwest Corridor path.

Another $500,000 was used to expand the Blue Bikes network and supported the opening of new stations across Mattapan, Rosilendal, and Dorchester in 2019. $250,000 funded the new tactical plazas, such as the one at Phillips Square in Chinatown. Funds also covered jobs for new employees in Boston’s public works department. These new jobs were created to accelerate GoBoston 2030 projects as well as curb management programs to help with Uber and Lyft stops in high-traffic areas as well as basic maintenance programs. Those include traffic signal re-timing, refreshment of pavement markings, and improvements to the safety signage.

Despite the millions that helped these projects, there are policymakers who believe that the current 20-cent fee doesn’t really compensate the public for the massive traffic issues that Uber and Lyft drivers have caused. Governor Baker proposed a 2021 budget that would increase the fees on app-based rideshare companies to $1 per ride, and 70 cents per ride would go to the state to help pay for an increased MBTS operating budget. The remaining 30 cents would go to the city or town where each ride originated and would triple the local funds available for transportation projects.


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Johnna Crider

Johnna owns less than one share of $TSLA currently and supports Tesla's mission. She also gardens, collects interesting minerals and can be found on TikTok

Johnna Crider has 1996 posts and counting. See all posts by Johnna Crider