Week In Review: Ride-Hailing Regulations, Police Body Cams And Alternative Energy

This afternoon, Gov. Charlie Baker signed a bill to regulate ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft. The bill requires background checks, but not fingerprinting, for all drivers. The lack of fingerprinting has been called out by Boston Police Commissioner Bill Evans who has said he wants to level the playing field between taxi drivers and ride-hailing services.

Scott Solombrino, a spokesman for Ride Safe Massachusetts, says, "Obviously, whenever there's compromise legislation you never get everything you want, but for the most part we're thrilled with how the legislation has been completed."

The bill also allows Uber and Lyft to pick up passengers from Logan Airport at the discretion of the Massachusetts Port Authority and adds a 20-cent surcharge per ride.

We cover this new legislation, the push for police body cameras in Boston, and the compromise energy bill that was passed this week.

Dante Ramos, op-ed columnist for The Boston Globe. He tweets @DanteRamos.

Tiziana Dearing, professor in the school of social work at Boston College and member of WBUR's community advisory board. She tweets@Tiziana_Dearing.