Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 40, § 22 (2026)

Regulation of vehicles; penalties for violation; veterans with disabilities and persons with disabilities excepted from parking violations; taxicab licenses

✓ current as of July 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MAmalegislature.gov (official) JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Section 22. Except as otherwise provided in section eighteen of chapter ninety and subject, so far as applicable, to section two of chapter eighty-five and sections eight and nine of chapter eighty-nine, a city or town may make ordinances or bylaws, or the board of aldermen or the selectmen or the town council may make rules and orders, for the regulation of carriages and vehicles used therein, and may set penalties for the violation thereof; and may set and receive an annual fee for each license granted to a person to use any such carriage or vehicle therein. No such rule or order shall prohibit the use of passenger or station wagon type motor vehicles whose gross weight is less than five thousand pounds and which are registered for commercial use, on ways, parkways or boulevards where noncommercial passenger-type motor vehicles are permitted to operate. Such rules and orders shall not take effect until they have been published at least once in a newspaper published in the city, town or county.

No penalty shall be imposed upon any disabled veteran or handicapped person, whose vehicle bears the distinctive number plates, or displays the special parking identification plate authorized by section two of chapter ninety or bears the official identification of a handicapped person issued by any other state, or any Canadian Province, for parking such vehicle on any way for a longer period of time than permitted by said ordinances, by-laws, rules or orders.

Except in the counties of Dukes and Nantucket every metered taxicab licensed under this section shall have the name or the trade name of the owner and the name of the city or town in which it is licensed painted on the sides thereof in letters not less than four inches high and one half inch wide.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 18 cases, 1927–2017 · leading case: Boston Taxi Owners Ass'n v. City of Boston, 180 F. Supp. 3d 108 (D. Mass. 2016).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Boston Taxi Owners Ass'n v. City of Boston, 180 F. Supp. 3d 108 (D. Mass. 2016). · cites it 2× “The first kind of registration pertained to “taxicabs”, defined as any vehicle which carries passengers for hire, and which is licensed by a municipality pursuant to M.G.L. c. 40, § 22 as a taxicab. The second, kind of registration was for a “livery vehicle”, defined as any…”

Boston Taxi Owners Ass'n v. City of Boston, 84 F. Supp. 3d 72 (D. Mass. 2015). · cites it 2× “The first kind of registration pertained to “taxicabs”, defined as any vehicle which carries passengers for hire, and which is licensed by a municipality pursuant to M.G.L. c. 40, § 22 as a taxicab. The second kind of registration was for a “livery vehicle”, defined as any…”

Nabhan v. Bd. of Selectmen of Salisbury, 423 N.E.2d 1023 (Mass. App. Ct. 1981). · cites it 3× “Moreover, G. L. c. 40, § 22, provided, 11 in applicable part: “Except as otherwise provided in section eighteen of chapter ninety .”

Town Taxi Inc. v. Police Comm'r of Boston, 387 N.E.2d 129 (Mass. 1979). “” The Companies argue that, because renewal is a matter "of right,” the Commissioner cannot condition it on the filing of annual financial reports.”

Bd. of Appeals v. Hous. Appeals Comm., 887 N.E.2d 1051 (Mass. 2008). “On appeal, the committee determined that the developer failed to demonstrate that the conditions set by the board rendered the “building or operation of such housing uneconomic,” G. L. c. 40, § 22, and the Superior Court judge concluded that this determination was supported by…”

Commonwealth v. Rice, 158 N.E. 797 (Mass. 1927). · cites it 2× “” \ The briefs for the defendant and Commonwealth are in accord in referring the origin of G. L. c. 40, § 22 to St. 1847, c. 224, §§ 1, 2, St.”

Everett Town Taxi v. Bd. of Aldermen of Everett, 320 N.E.2d 896 (Mass. 1974). “2 Pursuant to G. L. c. 40, § 22, municipalities may regulate taxicabs operating within their boundaries through conditional licenses and by designation of specific cab stands according to public convenience.”

Marshal House v. Rent Review & Grievance Bd, Brookline, 260 N.E.2d 200 (Mass. 1970). “" The fixing of rates in that case, however, was incidental to the exercise of a clearly defined, delegated power to regulate a transportation service having some aspects of a carrier or public utility.”

Town of Stow v. Marinelli, 227 N.E.2d 708 (Mass. 1967). “The power of a town to regulate traffic is provided by G. L. c. 40, § 22. See M & M Trans. Co. v.”

Am. Motorcyclist Ass'n v. PARK COMM. OF BROCKTON, 592 N.E.2d 1314 (Mass. 1992). “We note also that park commissioners may prohibit the use of ways in a park by motor vehicles, may regulate their speed, and may make regulations governing the use and operation of motor vehicles on parkways.”

Rogers v. Town of Provincetown, 424 N.E.2d 239 (Mass. 1981). “” 2 Provincetown states that it also relies on G. L. c. 40, § 22. However, even assuming that § 22 (regulating carriages and taxicabs) authorizes the enactment of by-laws which conflict with other statutes and further assuming that moped rentals fall within the ambit of § 22,…”

Commonwealth v. Berney, 233 N.E.2d 739 (Mass. 1968). “” It is to be noted that the enabling act gave the commission all of the authority previously granted to selectmen by virtue of the provisions of G. L. c. 40, § 22, which authorizes (with exceptions not here material) the making of rules “for the regulation of carriages and…”

Show all 18 citing cases →

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.