（Boston Orange）麻州公用事業處(DPU)今(24)日發佈法規草案，加強監管網約車平台公司及其司機。新規明定，網約車平台若違反司機認證規定，每項違規罰款 500 美元。DPU現正公開徵詢民眾意見，提交截止日為2026 年 7 月 2 日。
擬議中的草案將強制網約車平台持續監管司機背景，擴大審查範圍至司機過去 7 年曾居住或持照的所有州別，嚴禁曾遭任何州吊銷駕照的司機執業，若平台允許未經審查人員執業就喪失服務資格。平台公司還必須每年確認營運車輛無安全召回紀錄，藉以透過強制的背景監控與營運規範，確保全州 10.4 萬名認證司機的執業安全。
在保障乘客方面，草案要求平台優化 App （軟體應用程式）行程驗證協定以確保車輛真實性，並限制 16 歲以下未成年人須由成年人陪同搭乘。平台公司須為司機提供年度訓練，課程涵蓋安全駕駛、預防人口販運及服務身障者之技巧等。
麻州公用事業處主管 Jeremy McDiarmid 強調，新規則旨在強化產業監督，並確保審查過程公平。專員Staci Rubin 補充，法規要求平台公司每兩年提交電動化進展報告。截至 2025 年 12 月，州府已發放約 144.6 萬美元，資助約 300 名司機更換電動車。
自 2017 年行使監管權以來，麻州已執行逾 80 萬次背景審查，並對違規業者裁罰超過 600 萬美元。研擬中的規範不涵蓋由市鎮核發許可的 UberEats 或 DoorDash 等餐飲外送平台。DPU將針對草案舉辦兩場聽證會。
DPU Plans to Enhance Rideshare Safety through New Regulations
The proposed regulations will be nation-leading in protecting both passengers and drivers
BOSTON — Today, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) opened a rulemaking proceeding to enhance public safety for all rideshares across the state. The DPU’s TNC Division is updating its regulations that pertain to both the Transportation Network Companies (TNCs)—companies providing rideshare services such as Uber and Lyft—and drivers certified by the DPU to operate in Massachusetts. The regulations, once implemented, would reinforce Massachusetts’s position as a national leader in state oversight of rideshare services through a rigorous, safety-focused program.
Through its TNC Division, the DPU has the authority to regulate rideshare companies, the services provided by each company, and rideshare drivers in the state since 2017. There are currently five permitted TNCs authorized to conduct business and over 104,000 certified rideshare drivers in Massachusetts. Over the past nine years, the DPU has completed over 800,000 background checks, thousands of appeals, and assessed over $6 million in civil penalties to the TNCs for lack of compliance with state laws. The DPU does not regulate on-demand food delivery rides, like UberEats and Doordash: these companies must obtain operating permits from municipalities.
“Massachusetts has the opportunity to set the standard for safety and oversight of the TNC industry with these updated regulations,” said Chair Jeremy McDiarmid. “The proposed changes reflect our top line goal of promoting passenger safety and ensuring driver fairness and dignity in the background check process.”
“Safety always comes first,” said Commissioner Liz Anderson. “We are extremely committed to passenger safety. The regulatory changes that we’re proposing would create new standards for rideshare companies and drivers to make sure both passengers and drivers have the safest ride possible.”
“The proposed regulations promote safety for riders and drivers and kickstart an equitable transition to the electrification of rideshare vehicles,” said Commissioner Staci Rubin. “Massachusetts is capitalizing on this unique opportunity to help ensure that the use of climate friendly vehicles is fair to drivers while we reduce environmental impacts from the transportation sector, the largest source of GHG pollution in the state.”
The new draft regulations impose more rigorous standards for driver certification and for the background checks conducted by both the TNCs and the DPU. The regulations expand driver disqualifications, such as suspended or revoked driving privileges in any state or allowing another driver without a background check to provide services on a TNC driver’s behalf, to better protect the safety of passengers and require continuous background check monitoring of drivers for any criminal or traffic violations. TNCs must also conduct new background checks whenever they become aware of changes to a driver’s personal information, such as obtaining a new driver’s license from another state. The regulations expand the scope of TNC background checks to cover criminal and motor vehicle driving history from every state where a potential Massachusetts TNC driver has resided or held a license in the past seven years. The third-party companies the TNCs use for background checks are also now subject to accreditation requirements to ensure their policies and work product are reliable and comply with state and federal laws. TNCs would be fined $500 for certain driver-related violations under the DPU’s final regulations.
The regulations seek to enhance the DPU’s current appeals process to make it more robust and transparent by providing standards for the DPU to review incident reports created by law enforcement and applicable to a driver’s appeal of certificate denial or revocation. The DPU will also now review any subpoenas in connection with a driver or company appeal.
Through the new regulations, the DPU looks to provide passengers with more transparency and enhance Ride Authentication protocols used in the TNCs’ apps so that passengers can verify quickly and easily that they are getting in the vehicle that they ordered. Additionally, the DPU’s regulations would make it easier for passengers to share their ride details with trusted parties and law enforcement in case of emergencies.
TNCs will be required to provide their drivers with annual educational training on safe driving and public interaction, distracted driving prevention, human trafficking awareness and prevention, and serving riders with disabilities, such as riders with service animals or riders using wheelchairs. Minors under 16 would be required to be accompanied by an adult when using rideshare services.
In addition to the strengthened suitability requirements, the TNCs must now annually check for safety recalls of vehicles before they can be used to provide rideshare services. Along with increasing safety oversight, the draft regulations would promote the electrification of rideshare vehicles and require the TNCs to submit biennial reports on their progress advancing their electrification programs, required by Massachusetts law. Since 2024, MassCEC’s Ride Clean Mass program has helped rideshare drivers by providing rebates to significantly reduce upfront costs when rideshare drivers purchase or rent electric vehicles. As of December 2025, Ride Clean Mass has disbursed roughly $1,446,800 in vouchers to roughly 300 rideshare drivers to electrify their vehicles. Rebates are still available to qualifying drivers.
Following the publication of the draft regulations by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, the DPU will hold two hearings to gain feedback from drivers, stakeholders, and the public. All members of the public and stakeholders are welcome to provide written comments by July 2, 2026. More information can be found at the DPU’s page on the rulemaking proceeding.
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