HonorableHenry Wade Opinion No. C-249

District Attorney Dallas County Re: IB it mandatory that employees Records Building of the City of Dallae, operaDallas, Texas ting the Dallas Transit Co. buses, have a commercial Dear Mr. Wade: chauffeur'slicense?

You recently requestedan opinion of this office on the followingquestion:

"Is It mandatory that employeesof the City of Dallas, operating the Dallas Transit Co. have a commercialchauffeur'slicense?"
You have furnishedus with the following facts:

"The City of Dallas recentlyacquired the operatingpropertiesof the Dallas Transit Company (whloh operatedbuses within the city limits of Dallas and environs); and the City of Dallas Is now operatingthis public transit system as an official department of the City of Dallas. "The Dallas Transit Company is wholly owned by th.e

City of Dallas, and the bus operators employed to drive same are full time employeesof thee Mty of Dallas." Article 6687b, Section l(o), Vernon's Civil Statutes, defines chauffeuras:

"'Chauffeur.' Every person who is the driver for wages, compensation, or hire, or for fare, of a motor vehicle transporting passengers." Article 6687b, Section 3,~ Vernon's Civil Statutes,provides in part as follows:

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“Sec. 3. What persona are exempt from license II

. . . . “4.

. . . It shall not be necessary for an employee,

of any incorporated city, town or village of this State or county of this State when holding an operator’spermit to obtain a chauffeur’slicense in order to operate an officialmotor vehicle in the service of such incorporated city, town, village or county. I, II

. . . . This languagehas appeared in the statute since Its original passage In 1941. Acts 47th Leg. 1941, ch. 173, p. 247. We see the question to be one of determining what is an 'official motor vehicle" In the "service"of an Incorporated city, town, village or county. The Act does not define the term. The word "official"is used as an adjectivedescribingmotor vehicles. The Merriam-Webster Third Edition International Dictionary, 1961, uses the followingdefinitionfor the adjective "official":

"belongingor relating to an office,position, or trust: connectedwith holding an office.

. .: holding an office or serving In a public position: authorizedto perform a service.

. .'I If we consider the term "officialmotor vehicle" as a noun, the definitionbecomesmore restrictive. We are, therefore, of the opinion that Article 6687b, Section 3, Paragraph 4, means those motor vehicles owned by the city for the use of an official of the city, as for examplewhere a mayor, city manager, police chief, etc. are furnishedwith automobiles which are drlven by city employees;also fire engines,police vehicles,etc. Rowever, city buses are not "official"vehicles of the city, because they are not in the service of the city, as such, and the passengersare being transportedfor hire or compensation. The city only indirectlybenefits from the profits accruing from the operation. The service to the travelingpublic is not a governmentalfunction of the city.

18 McQuillinon Municipal Corporations (3rd Ed. Rev.) Sec. 53.108 on p. 426 says:

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"In operatinga system of buses for the transportation

of passengersfor hire, a city functions in its corporate,as distinguished from it governmentalcapacity,and may be held liable for injuries sustainedthrough the negligentoperationof a bus. A city Is liable as a common carrierwith respect to passengers, and is required to exercisea high degree of care for their safety, not only while being transported,

but also when entering the vehicle, or alighting therefrom.

. . ." City of Amarillo v. Tutor, 267 S.W. 697, Tex. Comm. App. 1924 ; City of Amarillo v. Green, 267 S.W. 702 t Tex. Comm. App. 1

1924 ; 39 Tex.Jur.2d 27b, Municipal and InterurbanTransportation, Sec. 2. It, therefore,seems that the LegislatureIntended to give the public the protectionof operatorswith a chauffeur's license driving city-owned buses as the city, acting in Its corporateor non-governmental capacity, is required to exercise a high degree of care for the safety of the passengersbeing. transported.
We are, therefore,of the opinion that Paragraph 4, Section 3 of Article 6687b does not apply to city owned buses because such buses are not "official motor vehicles" in the service of the city, and the city in operating the bus company is not acting in a governmentalcapacity. SUMMARY Rnployees of the City of Dallas operating Dallas Transit Companybuses must have a commercial chauffeur'slicense as requiredby Article 6687b, V. C. S., even though the Dallas Transit Company is wholly owned by the City of Dallas and the bus operators employed to drive the buses of the company are full-time employeesof the City of Dallas. Yours very truly,

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NVS:aj APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE W. V. Geppert, Chairman Paul R. Robertson John Reeves Robert Smith W. 0. Shultz APPROVED FOR THE ATTOIWEPGENERAL BY: Stanton Stone

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