MassDevelopment has announced available funding from the Taxi & Livery Business Support Grant Program, a new program to offer taxi, livery and hackney operators financial assistance to secure products or services that will aid in improving their competitiveness and enhancing safety capabilities in the rapidly evolving market of for-hire transportation. MassDevelopment’s Taxi & Livery Business Support Grant Program is one of two initiatives that will be funded by MassDevelopment’s allocation from the Commonwealth’s Transportation Infrastructure Enhancement Trust Fund.
Through this new program, small businesses in the taxi, livery, and hackney industries can now apply for grants of up to $50,000 for expenses including dispatch systems or other equipment, technology-enabled ride-hailing systems, safety enhancements, workforce training programs, and business consultant services. Additionally, taxi and livery industry associations can apply for grants of up to $1 million for aggregated improvements that will have a collective impact on the industry in Massachusetts, and can direct up to $200,000 of such awards toward the purchase of marketing materials that promote the taxi and livery industry.
The full Request for Proposals for MassDevelopment’s Taxi & Livery Business Support Grant Program is available at massdevelopment.com/taxiliverysupport. Responses are due by 5 p.m. on September 21, 2020.
“MassDevelopment is pleased to make funding available through our new Taxi & Livery Business Support Grant Program, and we encourage eligible small businesses and industry associations to apply now for funding,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Lauren Liss. “The goal of this grant program is to equip our taxi, livery, and hackney operators with tools that will help them achieve advanced service, safety, and operational capabilities, and remain competitive in today’s market of for-hire transportation. We’re also proud to partner with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council on the creation of an operational subsidy program that will expand transportation service capacity and create new business opportunities for taxi and livery businesses in the Commonwealth.”
The Commonwealth’s Transportation Infrastructure Enhancement Trust Fund (the “Fund”) was created by An Act Regulating Transportation Network Companies, which Governor Baker signed into law in August 2016, and is supported by a 20-cent assessment on every transportation network company ride in Massachusetts. For the calendar years of 2017-2021, one-quarter of the fund is being designated to MassDevelopment to provide financial assistance to small businesses operating in the taxicab, livery, or hackney industries.
