. - 

TEICATI-ORNEYGENERAL 

OF TEXAS 

RonorebleJemes E. Kilday,Direotor 

MotorTranaportationDivision 

Railroad Cmmission of Texas 

Austin,Texea 

Dear Sir: opinion No. o-4317 

Re: Whether the subject aaaociatiGnlmy operate in the 

manner described without 

authority from the Railroad 

colmniseion. 

Your letter ofJanuary E',lg42,requeste a legalopinionfran 

this de*tmntand lucorporatea the follovingstatementaa the faotual 

baaia tberefor: 

"Clinton Park le a defense negro reeidentiel addition, 

onemile frcm the cltylimita ofHouetw,Texaaand consiata 

of 500 h-6 on 206 acres of lend. The families of these 

residenta hevenomeena of trawportatlon toHouston except 

byuee of their limitednlrmb~r ~fautamobilea or SOalone 

P.aFk~Bue'~whioh pemeti by said addition, but not ti~~or'tita 

Beme. The owner of the GaleuaParkBua has offered to provide 

said tramp6rtati6n at the rate of 254 per rlde'per p&son. 

The residenta of thiti oawmnlty owot afford this high rate 

of traffic end have banded together in form- a non-profit 

orgenizetion celled the Clinton Park Bus Awn; have purchased 

ebns with a seetinScapacityof 39 perSona and are enlisting 

memberships into this club. Mempera are to coni3iat exclusively 

of the resldetlta of Clinton Park Addition end no one can ride on 

this bus but membera of this club and their guests. There is 

to be no fee or fare charged or collected for the me of this 

ha. Membership fee in said club is to be $l.COper month per 

femily, end. this $l.OO permonth is tobe used in paying for 

the bus, gas, oil, end maintenance and operation. There are 

to be no profits or dividends dletribu'ced and this service Ehall 

not be open to the public but is to be epecificelly limited t0 

the exclusive use of the members of this club end their Sueeta 

and the club membership la to be limited to the residents of 

this negm addition. 
Honorable James E. Xilday, Page 2 (O-4317) 

"The abovemtlcned bus la not a bus for hire; ldentlfioatlon to ride will have to be eetabliahed, and the mQnberchip fee of $1.00 per mcnth ehall not l&&t the number of 

ride8 a member or his family wlll'or oan make. The hue will. 

only carry the member% through the addition to the closest 

bus line in the oity of Houeton end vice veree and no farther. 

Themembers of the club eremerelyettmupting to provide the 

residenta with the aoocmdlation of transportation to and 

fma the edditlon to eHouetonCamuou Carrieranarenot 

attempting to establish a bus service for profit or for hire. 

"Each member haa individuelly signed the prauisory 

note on the purchase of theirbus end are proport.ionatelJ 

liable on same. This I6 strictly a oammmity erraugment." 

The queM%on asked Is whether this association may operate in the 

manner deacrlbed without fir&having obtained fra the Railroad Canrmission 

a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity pursuant to the provisions 

of Article glla, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes. 

Subsection (c), Section 1, Article 9lla, reads in pert aa 

follows: 

"The tern 'motorbua company'whenused in this act* ** 

meem every oorporation or persona ae herein defined l l l 

owning,oo&rolllng,operatiagormanaging anymotorpropelled 

passengervehicle,notaaDallyopareted onor overraiti, and 

ei+ged in the bueineas of transporting persona for ocanpeaaetion 

orhire over the public highwaye within the State ofTex=, 

whether operating over fixed route6 or fixed schedules or 

otherwi6e * * +." (Underscoring ours) 

Section 5 of 9lla provides e& follows: 

"Nomotor-bus ccmpany shellhereafter regularly operate 

for thetransportation of person5 aa passengera for ccmpenaetion 

orhire over the public highvass of this atatewithout first 

having obtained frcuu the ooxmtissionunder the provisiona of tbia 

Act l l * a certificate or permit declaring that the public 

convenience and neoesaity require such operation. * * *.* 

In our opinion the operations of t.heCllntonParkBue Aasocit&m aa above described would not constitute "the business of transportating perso? for compensation or hire." The association irould therefore not be required to obtain authority frcua the Railroad Ccmmission. 

. 
Honorable Jemee E. gilday, Page 3 (O-4317) 

May we emphaaite, however, that our opinion is atriot limited 

to the faot situation 88 defined. Anamm&mentofthisnature eael4 

edapte lteelf to eubterfuge and changes in certain essential features 

of the operatlou would render the Aeeociaticm amenable to'the requirements 

ofArticle glla. 

Yours verytruly 

ATPORNEY GmERAL.avTExAs 

APPROVED JAN 30, 1942 

/B/ Grover Sellma 

F~TASSIEQWT 

ATltXWEYBy /a/ Zollie C. Steekley 

Zollle C. StaeUey 

Aaeistent 

APPRovETl OPImm 

col4mT?mE