Transportation

The Senate turned back efforts Thursday to remove new municipal taxing powers from a transportation bond bill, rejecting an amendment from Democrat Sen. Diana DiZoglio that would have scrapped plans for binding regional ballot initiatives.

Massachusetts will become the second state ever to pursue legal action against ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft over their classification of workers, a system that Attorney General Maura Healey argues leaves almost 200,000 drivers without access to key employment benefits.

The average gas price in Massachusetts is now $2.12 per gallon, up two cents from last week, according to AAA Northeast.

The Senate will not take up a House-approved, half billion-dollar package of transportation tax and fee increases this lawmaking session, instead focusing attention on an omnibus borrowing bill that the Senate's Transportation Committee chairman believes can be fully funded without new revenues.

Massachusetts gasoline prices are up three cents per gallon this week, according to a Monday report from AAA Northeast.

JetBlue Airways and American Airlines are approved to suspend service to Worcester Regional Airport through the end of September in order to provide the airlines relief during the COVID-19 pandemic, which all but halted air travel, according to a filing from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The U.S. Department of Transportation appears to have approved further cuts to airline service requirements at the Worcester Regional Airport, according to a May 22 filing, although as of Friday morning it was not immediately clear what those cuts might look like.

Limited in how much they can — or want to — head out to work, get groceries or just leave the house during the coronavirus pandemic, 43% of Worcester County residents are staying home entirely, according to an analysis of electronic devices.

Although traffic was halved compared to years prior due to efforts to stem the spread of coronavirus, the rate of fatal car crashes doubled in April, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation said in a Monday press release.

Harding Street and Millbury streets in Worcester will be permanently reversed between Kelley Square and Arwick Avenue beginning Wednesday, May 6 at 5 a.m., according to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.