COMMON CARRIERS OF PASSENGERS BY MOTOR VEHICLE

M.G.L. pt. Part I, tit. Title XXII, ch. c. 159A

in effect

M.G.L. c. 159A, § 1 Motor vehicles providing public transportation; license; fee; rules and regulations; appeal from denial of license

c. 159A, § 1. Motor vehicles providing public transportation; license; fee; rules and regulations; appeal from denial of license Section 1. No person shall, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, operate any motor vehicle upon any public way in any city or town for the carriage of passengers for hire, in such a manner as to afford a means of transportation similar to that afforded by a railway company, by indiscriminately receiving and discharging passengers along the route on which the vehicle is operated or may be running, or for transporting passengers for hire as a business between fixed and regular termini, without first obtaining a license for such operation from the city council of such city or the selectmen of such town, in this chapter called the licensing authority; provided, that, in respect to any boulevard or way or turnpike or toll road under the jurisdiction of the metropolitan district commission or the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, such applicable commission or authority shall constitute the licensing authority; and provided, further, that the city council of a city and the selectmen of a town, with the advice and consent of the school committee, may issue a license for the use within the municipality of school buses for public events promoting the public good for any period not to exceed seventy-two hours. Any such license issued by a city council under this section shall be subject to the approval of the mayor. The amount of the fee for any such license shall be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven for the filing thereof. Such license may limit the number of vehicles to be operated thereunder. Any person, receiving a license under this section and operating a vehicle or vehicles thereunder, shall, in respect to such operation, be subject to such orders, rules or regulations as shall be adopted by the licensing authority under this chapter. No license, certificate or permit shall be required under this chapter in respect to such carriage of passengers as is exclusively interstate. If any application for a license under this section is not favorably acted upon within a period of sixty days after the filing thereof, the applicant may appeal to the department of telecommunications and energy within five days following the expiration of said period or, if notice of unfavorable action is sooner given, within five days of said notice, upon a petition in writing setting forth all the material facts in the case. The commission shall hold a hearing on each such appeal, requiring due notice to be given to all interested parties. If the commission approves the action of the licensing authority, it shall issue notice to that effect, but if the commission disapproves of said action, it shall act as a licensing authority and may issue a license which shall specify the route or routes on which a motor vehicle subject to this section may be operated and the number of vehicles which may be operated under such license.

M.G.L. c. 159A, § 2 Licenses; specification of routes; form; detours

c. 159A, § 2. Licenses; specification of routes; form; detours Section 2. Every such license shall specify the route or routes over which the motor vehicles used thereunder may be operated, and shall be on a form approved by the department of telecommunications and energy; provided, that a variance from a form so approved shall not affect the validity of the license if the form used is in substantial conformity with the approved form. A licensee shall not operate motor vehicles for the purposes specified in section one otherwise than upon routes specified in the license or licenses issued to him; provided, that in the event of the closing of the whole or a portion of such a route by public authority or of interference with operation thereon by street repairs, fire, accident, unusual and severe traffic congestion or other emergency, a licensee may temporarily operate such vehicles by a reasonably direct and convenient detour.

M.G.L. c. 159A, § 3 Failure of municipalities between terminals to grant license; authority of department of public utilities

c. 159A, § 3. Failure of municipalities between terminals to grant license; authority of department of public utilities Section 3. If a person desiring to operate any motor vehicle for the purposes and in the manner aforesaid over a route covering at least twenty miles holds a license therefor in the terminal municipalities and also a license in all but one of the intervening municipalities, or, in case seven or more municipalities intervene, in all but one or two thereof, the department of public utilities, hereinafter in this chapter called the department, on petition of such person, shall act as the licensing authority in the one or two municipalities, as the case may be, in which such person's application for such an original license has not been favorably acted upon within three months after the filing thereof. The department, before issuing such a license, shall give a public hearing thereon after notice to the licensing authority of such a municipality, and if the department finds that public convenience and necessity require that the applicant be allowed to operate motor vehicles through such a municipality and over a route as aforesaid, it may issue a license therefor and shall specify therein the route or routes over which such motor vehicles shall be operated therein, but operation under such a license shall be limited to through traffic without stopping in such municipality for taking on or discharging passengers, except in case of a railroad or railway company operating a bus line as a part of its system.

M.G.L. c. 159A, § 4 Voiding licenses, continuing licenses; revocation of licenses

c. 159A, § 4. Voiding licenses, continuing licenses; revocation of licenses Section 4. A license issued under this chapter on or after November first, nineteen hundred and forty-five, for operations as to which no certificate of public convenience and necessity under section seven is obtained within three years after the date when such license is issued by the licensing authority, which in a city shall mean the date of its approval by the mayor, shall become null and void upon the expiration of said three years. Such a license issued before said November first under the provisions of law applicable thereto or under this chapter, and remaining in force on said date, for operations as to which such a certificate is not obtained before the expiration of five years after said November first, shall become null and void upon the expiration of said five years. Each license so issued after July eighteenth, nineteen hundred and twenty-seven, for operations as to which such a certificate has been obtained prior to said November first, or is obtained within three years thereafter in the case of a license issued on or after said November first, or within five years thereafter in the case of a license issued before said date, shall remain in force and effect as to the routes and for the number of vehicles specified in such license or operated thereunder, notwithstanding any limitation contained therein as to the time it shall remain in effect, until revoked as hereinafter provided. After public notice and hearing, the licensing authority may, for good and sufficient reasons to be stated in the order of revocation, revoke in whole or in part such a license issued by such authority, but unless within thirty days after any such order of revocation, except an order made by the department or by the metropolitan district commission acting as such licensing authority, the licensee consents thereto in writing, such order shall not be valid until approved by the department after public notice and hearing.

M.G.L. c. 159A, § 5 Temporary licenses

c. 159A, § 5. Temporary licenses Section 5. The department may, in order to provide for unusual, sudden or unforeseen transportation needs, or to avoid interruption of existing transportation facilities, issue such temporary licenses as it deems that public convenience and necessity may require over such route or routes as it shall specify. An applicant for such temporary license shall serve a copy of the application on all affected cities and towns. Applications filed with the department shall be accompanied by a certification that such service has been completed. All temporary licenses issued under the provisions of this section shall be limited to such period as the department shall specify, not exceeding one hundred and twenty days. No such license shall be renewed, nor shall more than one such license for substantially the same route be granted to the same person because of the same emergency.

M.G.L. c. 159A, § 6 Bond; actions; cancellation of bond

c. 159A, § 6. Bond; actions; cancellation of bond Section 6. No motor vehicle shall be operated under any license issued under this chapter until the licensee, in addition to complying with all orders, rules and regulations of the licensing authority, shall have deposited with the state treasurer a bond, running to him in such sum as the department may reasonably require, with a surety or sureties or other security approved by the state treasurer and by the department, conditioned to pay any final judgment obtained against the principal named in the bond for any injury to person or property or for damages for causing the death of any person by reason of any negligent or unlawful act, on the part of said principal, his or its agents, employees or drivers, in the use or operation of any such motor vehicle. Any person so injured or damaged, or his executor or administrator, or the executor or administrator of any person whose death was so caused, may enforce payment of such judgment by suit on said bond in the name of the state treasurer, and in such suit the court may make any appropriate order for the application of any security deposited as aforesaid. If any liability insurance policy filed as security for any such bond, or any such bond with a surety company as surety, shall be cancelled or a renewal policy or bond is not filed prior to the expiration thereof, or if the state treasurer or the department at any time after notice and hearing shall determine that the sureties on any such bond or the security therefor is not sufficient, or if the department shall in its discretion determine and notify the licensee that a larger bond is required, no such motor vehicle shall thereafter be operated until the licensee has furnished other or additional security approved by the state treasurer and by the department. No security other than as herein provided shall be required of any such licensee.

M.G.L. c. 159A, § 7 Certificate of public convenience or necessity; transfer of certificate or charter license

c. 159A, § 7. Certificate of public convenience or necessity; transfer of certificate or charter license Section 7. No person shall operate a motor vehicle under a license issued as aforesaid unless he has also obtained from the department a certificate declaring that public convenience and necessity require such operation. The department may, after public hearing, issue or refuse to issue such a certificate, or may issue the same for the partial exercise only of the privilege sought. Such certificate shall specify the route or routes over which the motor vehicles to be used thereunder may operate, and may prescribe the period during which the rights granted therein or in such license may be exercised, and may attach to the exercise of said rights such terms and conditions as the department shall deem that public convenience and necessity may require. The department, after notice and hearing, may revoke any such certificate for cause, and may, in like manner, revise any provisions thereof and any of the terms and conditions of such certificate or license. Upon such revocation, or upon the termination of the period covered by such certificate, the right of any person to operate thereunder shall immediately terminate. The department may adopt rules prescribing the manner and form in which applications for certificates or for any modification of outstanding certificates shall be made. In the event of the decease, incompetency, insolvency, bankruptcy or corporate reorganization, under the bankruptcy law of the United States, of a holder of a certificate of public convenience and necessity, or charter license issued under section eleven A, the department, upon application of the assignee, trustee or personal representative, shall conditionally transfer such certificate or charter license to him pending decision by the department as to the fitness, willingness and ability of said transferee to conduct the operations or business authorized by said certificate or charter license. In the event of the decease, incompetency, insolvency or bankruptcy of a member of a partnership holding such certificate, the department, upon application of the surviving or remaining partners, or assignee, trustee, receiver or personal representative of the deceased, incompetent, insolvent or bankrupt partner, may make a like conditional transfer to the surviving or remaining partners.

M.G.L. c. 159A, § 7A Assignment or transfer of certificate

c. 159A, § 7A. Assignment or transfer of certificate Section 7A. Any certificate of public convenience and necessity granted by the department pursuant to section seven and chapter three hundred and seventy-eight of the acts of nineteen hundred and forty-seven and any license or permit granted pursuant to sections one, three and eleven A, may be assigned and transferred in whole or in part, with the approval and consent of the department, after a public hearing, at which hearing it shall be established to the satisfaction of the department that the proposed transfer and assignment are consistent with the public interest, that public convenience and necessity require it, and that the transferee is fit, willing and able properly to conduct the operation or business authorized by said certificate, provided, however, that no certificate, license or permit shall be transferred except in connection with the bona fide sale to the transferee of the business of the transferor theretofore conducted in connection with the certificate, permit and license or any part thereof sought to be transferred. Notice of such public hearing shall be given to the holders of licenses issued under section eleven A in the city or town into which said change is sought to be made, and to holders of certificates issued under section seven and doing business in such city or town. No person, firm, trust or corporation subject to the jurisdiction of the department shall hereafter purchase, acquire, take or hold, directly or indirectly, any part of the capital stock of any carrier subject to the provisions of this chapter, nor shall any person, any associated group of persons or any firm, trust or corporation, who or which is not subject to the jurisdiction of the department, acquire, take or hold, directly or indirectly, more than fifty per cent of the voting capital stock of a carrier subject to this chapter, unless authorized so to do by the department. No consent shall be given by the department to the acquisition as aforesaid unless it shall have been shown that such acquisition is consistent with the public interest, and if such consent is given in whole or in part the department may impose such terms and conditions as it shall deem to be in the public interest. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the holding of any stock heretofore lawfully acquired by a person, firm, trust or corporation, or, upon the surrender or exchange of said stock pursuant to an agreement of consolidation or merger or a reorganization plan, to prevent the purchase, acquisition, taking or holding of the voting capital stock of the new corporation organized pursuant to such agreement or plan to take over the property of any corporation whose stock has been thus surrendered or exchanged, or to prevent the purchase, acquisition, taking or holding of any further issue of stock, provided such further issue does not increase the proportion of voting capital stock held by such person, firm, trust or corporation. For the purposes of this section only the word ''carrier'' shall be construed to include any person, partnership, corporation or association owning or operating a motor vehicle actually used for the transportation of school children under a contract with a municipality or municipal board or for the transportation of school children in a school bus as defined in section one of chapter ninety to or from events of public interest. No person or associated group of persons owning or controlling more than fifty per cent of the stock of any corporate common carrier subject to the jurisdiction of the department under this chapter shall engage in business as a carrier as so defined without the consent of the department.

M.G.L. c. 159A, § 8 Permit required; interstate carriers excepted; compliance with department rules and regulations

c. 159A, § 8. Permit required; interstate carriers excepted; compliance with department rules and regulations Section 8. No motor vehicle shall be operated under a license issued under the provisions of this chapter without a permit from the department, except that a motor vehicle of an interstate carrier being used simultaneously in both interstate operations and intrastate operations under the operating authority of a certified intrastate carrier may be operated without such permit, provided that such motor vehicle is equipped to comply with the rules and regulations promulgated by the department governing the operation of such vehicle. Such permit shall not be issued until an inspector of the department finds that such motor vehicle, in respect to type, construction, equipment and operating condition, conforms to the rules and regulations promulgated by the department under the provisions of this chapter. The department shall charge fees for the issuance of an original permit and for the renewal thereof, the amount of which shall be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven for the filing thereof. Such permit may be revoked or suspended by the department at any time when it appears to the department that the motor vehicle covered by such permit does not conform to said rules and regulations. No other permit, license or registration shall be required for any such motor vehicle, except as provided in chapter ninety. The intrastate carrier, under whose certificate the interstate carrier is operating, shall be responsible and shall annually certify to the department that every motor vehicle of the interstate carrier operated under this section complies in all respects to the rules and regulations promulgated by the department.

M.G.L. c. 159A, § 9 Drivers licenses; qualifications; fees; revocation

c. 159A, § 9. Drivers licenses; qualifications; fees; revocation Section 9. No person shall drive any motor vehicle under authority of this chapter unless he shall, in addition to being duly licensed by the registrar of motor vehicles to operate such motor vehicles, be licensed by the department. No such license shall be issued by the department to any person who has not attained age eighteen or who has not qualified in accordance with the department's requirements or to any person who has attained age seventy unless such person, within ninety days of his seventieth birthday, and twice in each year thereafter at intervals not less than three nor more than six months apart, passes a physical examination in accordance with requirements established by the department. The department shall charge fees for the examination, issuance, and renewal of such license, the amount of which shall be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven for the filing thereof, and said department may revoke or suspend such a license at any time for such cause as may seem to it sufficient. No other license or permit than as specified or referred to in this section shall be required for any such driver.

M.G.L. c. 159A, § 10 Supervision and regulation by department; annual return

c. 159A, § 10. Supervision and regulation by department; annual return Section 10. Any person engaged in the operation of motor vehicles under a license and certificate as provided in this chapter is hereby declared to be a common carrier. The department shall have general supervision and regulation of, and jurisdiction and control over such common carriers to the same extent as it has over railway companies, except as to the issue of securities by persons whose securities are not subject to the jurisdiction of the department. The department may, from time to time, prescribe forms of accounts, records and memoranda for such common carriers and their accounts shall be kept in accordance with the forms prescribed. Each such person not required to file a return by any provision of law other than this section shall annually, on or before such date as the department fixes, make to the department, in a form prescribed by it, a return for the year ending on December thirty-first next preceding. The form shall correspond as nearly as may be to those established by the interstate commerce commission for this type of common carrier and shall provide for the proper certification of the accuracy thereof. Each such person shall at all times, upon request, furnish any information required by the department or its duly authorized employees relative to the condition, management and operation of such person as a common carrier, and shall comply with all lawful orders of the department. Every such common carrier neglecting to make such annual return within the time prescribed as aforesaid, or to amend said return within fifteen days of the date of any notice to do so, or neglecting to furnish any information lawfully required as aforesaid, shall forfeit five dollars for each day during which such neglect continues; and if such person unreasonably refuses or neglects to make said return or amendment he shall forfeit not more than five hundred dollars. Failure to comply with this section shall be a cause for revocation or suspension of a certificate under section seven.

M.G.L. c. 159A, § 11 Violation of provisions of chapter; revocation of registration of vehicle or driver's license

c. 159A, § 11. Violation of provisions of chapter; revocation of registration of vehicle or driver's license Section 11. If the department after notice and hearing finds that any motor vehicle subject to this chapter has been operated in violation of any provision thereof, it may notify the registrar of motor vehicles of its findings, and the registrar may thereupon revoke the registration of such motor vehicle or the license of the driver thereof, or both, as may be recommended by the department.

M.G.L. c. 159A, § 11A Charter, school or special service vehicles; license; rules and regulations

c. 159A, § 11A. Charter, school or special service vehicles; license; rules and regulations Section 11A. No person shall operate or offer to provide service by means of any motor vehicle carrying ten or more persons, including the driver, upon any public way in charter service, as hereinafter defined, unless he shall have obtained from the department a license to engage in the business of rendering such service and certifying that the rendering of such service is consistent with the public interest, that public convenience and necessity require it and that the applicant is fit, willing and able properly to perform such service. ''Charter service'' is hereby defined as the transportation of groups of persons who, pursuant to a common purpose and under a single contract, and at a fixed charge for the vehicle have acquired the exclusive use of the vehicle for the duration of a particular trip or tour and in such a manner as not to be subject to section one. The department may, after public hearing, grant or refuse to grant a license to engage in the business of rendering charter service, and may, after notice and hearing, suspend or revoke such a license for cause. Notice of such public hearing shall be given to each holder of a license issued under this section who is doing business in the city or town in which the proposed service is to be located or in contiguous cities or towns and to each holder of a certificate issued under section seven who is doing business in such city or town. Any such license shall remain in force except while so suspended, until so revoked. No person shall operate any motor vehicle carrying ten or more persons, including the driver, upon any public way in special service, or school service, as hereinafter defined, unless he shall have obtained from the department a permit to render such special service, or school service, certifying that the rendering of such special service or school service is consistent with the public interest, and public convenience requires it. ''Special service'' is hereby defined as the transportation by motor vehicle over a route other than one certified to the applicant under section seven, for any special purpose, event or occasion or series of events or occasions, or under contract to a business establishment or for the transportation of employees to a place of employment, of a number of passengers to whom the carrier itself, or some person in its behalf, has sold or intends to sell tickets for transportation service, whether such tickets are for transportation alone or are in the form of combination tickets. The application for a special service permit shall designate the specific point or points of origin and destination proposed to be served. ''School service'' is hereby defined as the transportation, by motor vehicle over a route other than one certified to the applicant under section seven, of children to and from school and summer day camp. No special service or school service permit shall be issued in any city or town as the point of origin other than to the holder of a certificate under section seven who has a certificated route in said city or town, unless there is no such certificate holder in such city or town, or unless the holder of said certificate is not fit, willing and able properly to perform the special service or school service applied for, and no such permit shall be issued to operate over a route over which or approximately over which a carrier has a certificate to operate under section seven, if said carrier is fit, willing and able properly to perform the special service or school service applied for. The department may grant or refuse to grant a permit for such special service, or school service, upon application, after not less than seven days' notice by mail directed to such holders of certificates issued under section seven and of permits issued under this section serving the cities or towns of origin named in such application as might, in the judgment of the department, be interested in such service. In the event that the department considers that any objection filed with it before the return date warrants further consideration, it shall hold such hearing on such notice as it may require, and shall thereupon grant or refuse to grant such permit. Special service permits shall be granted only to the holder of a license issued under this section authorizing him to engage in the business of rendering charter service and the department may, after notice and hearing, revoke such permit for cause. Such special service or school service shall not be subject to section one. The department may make suitable and reasonable rules, orders and regulations covering the operation of motor vehicles both under section one and in such charter service, special service, or school service, and may revise, alter, amend or annul the same. The department shall also establish minimum mileage rates for any such charter service operated in intrastate commerce within the commonwealth, and may revise, alter, amend or annul such rates, and in determining such rates the department shall consider as part of the rate base the elements of waiting service and type of equipment employed. The terms ''charter service'', ''special service'' or ''school service'' shall not include the transportation of school children to and from school pursuant to a written contract with a municipality or municipal board or with the authorities of such school, provided that the charges for such transportation are borne by such municipality or municipal board or school and provided, further, that no special charges for such transportation are made by the municipality or municipal board or such school on account of the children transported; or the operation of a motor vehicle so used and owned and operated by such authorities; or the operation of sight-seeing automobiles licensed under chapter three hundred and ninety-nine of the acts of nineteen hundred and thirty-one. Sections six, eight, nine, eleven, thirteen, fourteen and fifteen shall apply to the operation of charter service under a license granted under this section and to special service or school service under a permit issued under this section, but vehicles for which vehicle permits have been issued under section eight and drivers who hold drivers' licenses under section nine shall not be required to have additional vehicle permits and drivers' licenses for operation in charter service or special service. No licensee under this section shall change his address, place of business, the place where his buses or any of them are usually garaged, or his base of operations from one city or town to another, unless such change shall be approved by the department after a public hearing and notice to the holders of other licenses under this section in the city or town into which said change is sought to be made, and in the adjacent cities and towns thereto, and to holders of certificates issued under section seven, who are doing business in such city or town, and unless a finding is made by said department that such change is consistent with the public interest and that public convenience and necessity require such change. This section shall not be construed so as to prohibit the use of school buses under contract to a school system in transporting pupils to and from summer school and school sponsored extracurricular activities.

M.G.L. c. 159A, § 11B Agreements to contribute to costs of public transportation authorized

c. 159A, § 11B. Agreements to contribute to costs of public transportation authorized Section 11B. Notwithstanding the provisions of chapter one hundred and sixty-one A to the contrary, any city or town may, for the purpose of providing public transportation facilities or avoiding a reduction or discontinuance of such transportation facilities or for the purpose of the securing of grants from appropriate federal agencies, enter into agreements to contribute to the costs of such services with any person lawfully authorized to operate any motor bus on any public way therein for the carrying of passengers for hire. The contribution to the costs of services shall include the purchase, sale or leasing of transportation equipment by said city or town.

M.G.L. c. 159A, § 12 Local rules and regulations; changes by department

c. 159A, § 12. Local rules and regulations; changes by department Section 12. The licensing authority in any city or town may, in respect of matters not treated of in the provisions of law governing the operation of motor vehicles under this chapter or rules established by the department, adopt rules and regulations governing such operation. After the adoption of any such rules and regulations, any person operating such a motor vehicle as authorized by this chapter, or a railway or railroad company operating a railway or railroad in such city or town, or any twenty residents thereof, may petition the department for the alteration, amendment or revocation of any such rule or regulation. The department, upon such petition, after notice to the licensing authority and a hearing, may alter, amend or revoke such rule or regulation and establish in place thereof rules and regulations thereafter to be observed in such city or town. Thereafter the department, upon its own initiative or upon petition of the mayor of such city or the selectmen of such town, or of any person so operating any such motor vehicle in such city or town, or of a railway or railroad company operating a railway or railroad in such city or town, or of any twenty residents thereof, after notice to the licensing authority of such city or town, may alter, amend or revoke any rule or regulation established by the department, and may adopt rules and regulations in substitution thereof. Rules and regulations prescribed by the department under this section shall not be subject to amendment or repeal by a city or town or by the licensing authority thereof.

M.G.L. c. 159A, § 13 Department of highways; registrar of motor vehicles; application of chapter

c. 159A, § 13. Department of highways; registrar of motor vehicles; application of chapter Section 13. Nothing contained in this chapter shall lessen or affect the authority or powers of the department of highways or of the registrar of motor vehicles under chapter ninety.

M.G.L. c. 159A, § 14 Trackless trolleys; application of chapter

c. 159A, § 14. Trackless trolleys; application of chapter Section 14. The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to transportation by the system known as trolleymotor or trackless trolley under the provisions of chapter one hundred and sixty-three.

M.G.L. c. 159A, § 15 Violations; penalties; jurisdiction; complaints

c. 159A, § 15. Violations; penalties; jurisdiction; complaints Section 15. Whoever violates any provision of this chapter for which no other penalty is provided, or any order, rule or regulation adopted or established thereunder, or any lawful requirement, condition, limitation or restriction contained in any certificate, permit or license, shall be punished for a first offence by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars, and for any subsequent offence by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars; and the supreme judicial court and the superior court shall have jurisdiction in equity to restrain any such violation upon petition of the department, any licensing authority, ten citizens of any city or town affected by such violation, or any interested party. Any licensing authority, ten citizens of any city or town affected by violation of any part of this section, or any interested party affected by such violation, may file with the department a complaint of any such violation, and the department shall investigate such complaint and may hold a hearing on the question of revocation of the certificate, permit or license of any person operating a motor vehicle under any provision of this chapter complained against, and thereafter modify, suspend or revoke such certificate, permit or license, and the department may institute in any court of the commonwealth, county or district wherein the carrier has a place of business such action, suit or complaint as may be necessary to enforce compliance with any provision of this chapter or any rule, regulation or order of the department thereunder, or any lawful requirement, condition, limitation or restriction contained in any certificate, permit or license.

M.G.L. c. 159A, § 16 Evasion of payment of fare; penalty

c. 159A, § 16. Evasion of payment of fare; penalty Section 16. Whoever fraudulently evades or attempts to evade the payment of a fare lawfully established by a common carrier duly licensed under the provisions of this chapter, either by giving a false answer to the collector of the fare, or by travelling beyond the point to which he has paid the same, or by leaving the motor vehicle without having paid the fare lawfully established for the distance travelled, or otherwise, shall forfeit not less than five nor more than twenty dollars. Whoever does not upon demand first pay such fare shall not be entitled to be transported for any distance, and may be ejected from such a motor vehicle. The court shall treat a violation of this section as a civil infraction. A person complained of for such civil infraction shall be adjudicated responsible upon such finding by the court and shall neither be sentenced to a term of incarceration nor be entitled to appointed counsel pursuant to chapter 211D. An adjudication of responsibility under this section may include an order of restitution. An adjudication of responsibility under this section shall not be used in the calculation of second and subsequent offenses under any chapter, nor as the basis for the revocation of parole or of a probation surrender.

M.G.L. c. 159A, § 17 Repealed, 1980, 261, Sec. 27A

M.G.L. c. 159A, § 18 to 30 Repealed, 1934, 264, Sec. 5

M.G.L. c. 159A, § 31 Wrongful interference with operation of school bus or vehicle carrying passengers for hire; penalties

c. 159A, § 31. Wrongful interference with operation of school bus or vehicle carrying passengers for hire; penalties Section 31. Whoever willfully, with intent to endanger the safety of any person on board or any person who he believes will board the same, or with a reckless disregard for the safety of human life, damages, disables, destroys, tampers with, or places or causes to be placed any explosive or other destructive substance in, upon, or in proximity to, any motor vehicle which is being used for the carriage of passengers for hire or for the transporting of school children; or whoever, with intent to endanger the safety of any person on board or any person who he believes will board the same, or with a reckless disregard for the safety of human life, willfully disables or incapacitates any driver or person employed in connection with the operation of such motor vehicle, shall be punished by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

M.G.L. c. 159A, § 32 School department vehicles; use for transporting community groups

c. 159A, § 32. School department vehicles; use for transporting community groups Section 32. Notwithstanding other provisions of this chapter, the school department of a town may make vehicles under its control available to transport a community group, including, but not limited to, senior citizens, little league teams, and a town recreation group, and may charge such group for such transportation an amount sufficient to cover the cost thereof.

Source: Massachusetts General Court (malegislature.gov)URL: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXXII/Chapter159AFetched: 10/20/2026