Bills We Support

The following are the specific e-bike and roadway safety bills we support that will be discussed in the Joint Transportation Committee hearing:

• H.3549, An Act to reduce traffic fatalities - Rep Michael J. Moran & Rep William Straus
• S.2273, An Act to reduce traffic fatalities - Sen William N. Brownsberger 
  • A multi-faceted bill that requires sideguards on large trucks, defines "Vulnerable Road Users," clarifies 3+ foot passing, and standardizes crash reports throughout the state. Note: There are many versions of this bill, however MassBike prefers the Moran/Straus bill over the Senate version which would require red rear lights AND rear reflectors, since we promote education and lights distribution as a means to mitigate enforcement to encourage the use of red rear lights lights at night
• H.3506, An Act relative to the expansion of bicycle lanes - Rep Daniel J. Hunt
  • A municipality must study expanding bicycle routes on public roadways if they accept funding from the Commonwealth Transportation Fund
    
• H.3457, An Act relative to electric bicycles -  Rep Dylan A. Fernandes & Rep Steven Owens
  
• S.2309, An Act relative to electric bicycles - Sen Sal N. DiDomenico
  • Defines e-bike categories, aligns low-speed e-bikes with bicycles instead of mopeds, and helps to create sensible regulations statewide
    

Your personal testimony in support of e-bikes and roadway safety is crucial to creating better bicycling for all riders across Massachusetts.

While not being discussed in the Joint Transportation Committee hearing on 10/14, several of the other bills MassBike supports could use your help! Please reach out to your local legislators about the following bills:

• An Act relative to electric bicycle rebates (H.3262) - Rep Blais
  • Helps reduce the costs of electric bicycles, especially for low-income riders
  • Please ask for this bill to be reported favorably out of committee 
• An Act relative to automated enforcement (H.2426 and H.2532 and S.1545) - Rep Michelle Ciccolo (H.2426), Rep Paul Tucker (H.2532), and Sen William Brownsberger (S.1545)
  • Enables municipalities to install automated cameras for traffic offenses such as running red lights and illegally passing a school bus
  • Please ask for this bill to be reported favorably out of committee
• An Act relative to commuter transit benefits (H.3088 and S.1890) - Rep Tommy Vitolo and Sen John Keenan
  • Reinstates the bicycle commuter benefit offered by employers, as well as expanding benefits for RTA riders and those outside of the MBTA service area
  • Please ask for this important bill to have a hearing to help increase access to bicycle commuting

Going forward, we encourage you to follow some of our priorities on our legislation page and keep up with our action alerts. Politics is all about relationships, so please get involved with the offices of your local State Senator or State Representative and express your concerns and get to know their offices and their points of view.

Thank you for your support in this effort and our ongoing pursuit of better bicycling through legislation in Massachusetts.