Transportation committee advances package on towing, rideshare rules, e-bikes, worker safety and transit passes

The Connecticut General Assembly’s Transportation Committee convened March 19 and moved a broad set of transportation-related bills forward to the floor, including measures on peer-to-peer car sharing, transportation network companies (TNCs), towing rates and practices, motor vehicle and boating penalties, worker and roadside safety programs, e-bikes and subsidized public transit for certain riders. Committee leaders said votes would be held open and that most items were forwarded “JFS to the floor” (joint favorable substitute).

The meeting blended technical agency recommendations from the Department of Transportation (DOT) and Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) with advocate and industry testimony. Several measures were described by chairs as “works in progress” that reflect changes made after public hearings and stakeholder feedback.

Why it matters

Taken together, the bills would change how the state regulates emerging mobility services, how towing and storage are priced and audited, and how the state addresses roadside worker and responder safety. Some measures also affect everyday road users — for example, by expanding helmet and distracted-driving rules and by creating a program for free public bus passes for high school students and veterans. Committee leaders and several members said the package balances consumer protections, small-business concerns and roadway safety.

Peer-to-peer car sharing and vehicle-miles-studying prohibition (SB 1447)

The panel advanced substitute language to SB 1447 that, as introduced, removed a retail delivery fee and instead focuses on applying sales-and-use tax to peer-to-peer car-sharing transactions and directing the resulting revenue to the Special Transportation Fund. The substitute also repeals an earlier statutory prohibition that prevented DOT from studying vehicle miles traveled (VMT). Chair remarks noted that the repeal ‘‘unhandcuffs’’ the state and would allow Connecticut to examine whether mileage-based policies make sense locally after considering other states’ studies.

Representative Kennedy raised concerns that the change could be read as creating a mileage tax; the chair clarified that the substitute does not establish a mileage tax and only lifts the statutory bar on studying VMT. Senator Wong said he would vote "no" out of committee, citing concerns that removing the prohibition could reopen debate about mileage-based fees that were previously rejected by the public after the toll debate.

Transportation network companies, driver protections (SB 1448)

The committee advanced SB 1448, which would revise TNC (ride-hail) registration fees to a tiered structure based on the number of drivers, add reporting requirements to DOT, require communications to drivers in English and Spanish, expand pre-enrollment disclosures (including information about the state Paid Family and Medical Leave program) and prohibit retaliation against drivers who file complaints.…