• • Prioritized by the Working Group for implementation within the next year.
  • Target audience: TNC, taxi, and livery fleet operators; individual TNC, taxi, and livery drivers who own their own vehicles
  • Implementer: Administration

The Working Group recommends an initial focus on ride for hire fleet operators to increase the initial impact of the incentive program. Establishing a rebate adder, or standalone incentive, for high mileage fleet operators seeking to electrify should be inclusive of delivery service vehicles, taxi, livery, or shuttle services as well as fleet managers and service providers that supply vehicles to these users through rental services. Rental car fleet operator eligibility could be determined by demonstrating that a set percentage of miles are driven by TNC drivers or that they are dedicated vehicles. Components of the high mileage fleet program could be modeled after the Bay Area Quality Management District’s High Mileage Fleet Program.

The second target should be to establish a rebate adder for high mileage ride for hire drivers that own their own vehicles for work. The Working Group recommends first piloting this adder with full-time drivers, who can be more clearly identified as “high mileage” without the need for complex verification mechanisms. For TNCs, this could be accomplished by initially targeting drivers through the Uber Pro and Lyft Rewards programs. Once established, the rebate adder could be tied directly to documentation of end-of-year mileage using RMV records, odometer readings for prior vehicles, or annual mileage data based on inspection reports. For TNC drivers, year-end 1099 forms could be used which include annual mileage.

For both the fleet operator and driver rebates, it is important that the state explore raising the MSRP price cap for new battery electric vehicles to accommodate the purchase of longer-range vehicle models to support higher mileage use cases. Additionally, both rebates should be made available as a point of sale (i.e., cash on the hood) incentive in partnership with car dealerships across the state. Protections should be required to ensure dealerships advertise the incentive and pass all savings to the customer.

• • Prioritized by the Working Group for implementation within the next year.
  • Target audience: Low- to moderate-income drivers
  • Implementer: Administration

Establishing a low- to moderate-income (LMI) rebate adder, or standalone incentive, for all Massachusetts residents should be based on creating a carve out/set aside of a certain percentage of programmatic total funding for LMI residents. The rebate structure should be tiered to allocate higher rebate amounts for residents with lower incomes. Four states, California, Maine, Oregon, and Vermont, offer electric vehicle purchase incentives for low and moderate-income individuals with the incentive ranging between $4,000-$5,500 (including the base rate) for a new fully electric vehicle. The Working Group recommends considering a similar range in Massachusetts, in addition to the existing base rebate of $2,500. Like Proposal A, it is important the state make the LMI rebates available as a point of sale (i.e., cash on the hood) incentive in partnership with car dealerships across the state. Protections should be required to ensure dealerships advertise the incentive and pass all savings to the customer (e.g., introduce at the end of a purchase as a separate line item and not include as part of the negotiation process).

The definition of LMI should be consistent with other statewide income-based programs such as the state’s energy efficiency programs, which typically define low-income households as at or below 60% state median income and moderate-income households as between 60-80% state median income. The LMI rebate should provide multiple accessible and inclusive pathways to verify eligibility, either through documented participation in public assistance programs (e.g., utility discount rates, Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, public/subsidized housing, etc.) or proof of household annual income (e.g., paystub or other valid proof of income).

• Prioritized by the Working Group for implementation within the next year.
• Target audience: TNC, taxi, and livery fleet operators
• Implementer: Utilities

Looking beyond fleet operator electrification, a rebate program for single-family and multi-family residential level II stations would be beneficial to increase access to electric vehicle charging for ride for hire drivers. These rebates should be made available to both residents and multi-family building operators to initiate installation (e.g., apply a tiered approach where stations that serve more than one household receive more funding). In addition to the station itself, the rebates should be designed to cover construction and electrical connections. The utilities should also support the deployment of on-street infrastructure, such as pole mounted chargers and other alternative site configurations, that can be accessed by drivers who may not have access to off-street parking at their homes.

A medium-term goal to support deployment of Multi Unit Dwellings and other overnight charging solutions for drivers without easy off-street charging options could follow Amsterdam’s demand driven electric vehicle infrastructure policy. This demand-driven model enables residents to apply for a charging station to be built near their home, and if an alternative is not available to them, a station will be provided.

• • Prioritized by the Working Group for implementation within the next year.
  • Target audience: TNC, taxi, and livery fleet operators
  • Implementer: Utilities

While broadly beneficial for vehicle electrification, the design and deployment of a rate structure that includes both time of use rates and active demand management incentives is critical to improving the long-term economics of vehicle electrification for individual ride for hire drivers. This is consistent with Sec. 29 in Ch. 383 of the Acts of 2020, which directs the utilities to develop and file one or more alternatives to traditional, demand-based electricity rates to mitigate the impact of demand charges for light, heavy-duty, and fleet vehicles. As residential rates are being considered by the Department of Public Utilities under a separate docket, the Working Group anticipates the rate design proposals will be targeted at DCFC, public or fleet charging.

• • Prioritized by the Working Group for implementation within the next year.
  • Target audience: Fleet operators, EV charging developers and utilities
  • Implementer: Administration

The outside sections of Governor Baker’s FY22 budget includes requirements for TNCs to share data and more comprehensive TNC data sharing provisions are in S.2436: An Act relative to public safety and transparency by transportation network companies. TNCs would be required to share more detailed information about trip origin and destination, trip length and duration, and other metrics important for planning and policymaking.

The DPU should map anonymized origin/destination data and make this information publicly available on its TNC Division webpage (e.g., on an annual basis). Providing this information will enable fair and open access that fleet operators, electric vehicle charging developers, and utilities can use to design and install infrastructure to plan for a well utilized network (e.g., install DCFC charging at heavily utilized pick-up/drop-off sites).

The Working Group recommends supporting and exploring appropriate legislative or regulatory mechanisms to require taxi and livery companies to share fleet-wide origin/destination data. For example, S.2436: An Act relative to public safety and transparency by transportation network companies will ensure that livery companies operating on a digital network with over 100 drivers will be subject to statewide TNC laws and regulations. The Working Group recognizes that data sharing should be aggregated and anonymized in a manner that will ensure driver/rider privacy protections as well as proprietary business information to the greatest extent possible.