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## TEICATI-ORNEYGENERAL OF TEXAS

RonorebleJemes

E. Kilday,Direotor MotorTranaportationDivision Railroad

Cmmission of Texas Austin,Texea
Dear Sir: opinion No. o-4317 Re: Whether the subjectaaaociatiGnlmy operate in the manner described

without authority

from the Railroad colmniseion.
Your letterofJanuary E',lg42,requeste a legalopinionfran this de*tmntand lucorporatea the follovingstatementaathe 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 ~fautamobileaor SOalone P.aFk~Bue'~whioh

pemetiby said addition, but not ti~~or'tita Beme. The owner of the GaleuaParkBua has offeredto provide said tramp6rtati6nat the rate of 254 per rlde'per p&son. The residenta

of thiti

oawmnlty owot afford this high rate of trafficend have banded togetherin form- a non-profit orgenizetion

celled the ClintonPark Bus Awn; have purchased ebns with a seetinScapacityof 39 perSonaand are enlisting memberships

into this club. Memperaare to coni3iat exclusively of the resldetlta

of ClintonPark 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 chargedor 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 serviceEhall not be open to the publicbut is to be epecificelly limitedt0 the exclusive

use of the members of this club end their Sueeta and the club membershipla 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 ehallnot l&&t the number of ride8 a member or his familywlll'oroan make. The hue will. only carry the member% throughthe addition to the closest bus line in the oity of Houeton end vice veree and no farther. Themembers of the club eremerelyettmupting to providethe residenta

with the aoocmdlation of transportation

to and fma the edditlon

to eHouetonCamuou Carrieranarenot attempting

to establish

a bus servicefor profit or for hire. "Each memberhaa 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 obtainedfra the Railroad Canrmission a Certificate

of Public Convenience and Necessity

pursuant

to the provisions of Articleglla,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 publichighwaye within the State ofTex=, whetheroperating

over fixed route6 or fixed schedules or otherwi6e

* * +." (Underscoring ours) Section 5 of 9lla provides e& follows: "Nomotor-bus ccmpanyshellhereafterregularly operate for thetransportation of person5aa passengera for ccmpenaetion orhire over the publichighvassof this atatewithout first havingobtained

frcuu the ooxmtissionunder the provisiona

of tbia Act l l * a certificate or permitdeclaring that the public convenience

and neoesaity

require such operation. * * *.*
In our opinionthe operations of t.heCllntonParkBueAasocit&m aa above described would not constitute "the business

of transportating

perso? for compensation or hire." The association irouldtherefore not be required to obtain authority frcua the RailroadCcmmission.

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

May we emphaaite,

however, that our opinionis atriot limited to the faot situation 88 defined. Anamm&mentofthisnature eael4 edapte lteelfto eubterfuge and changes in certainessential features of the operatlou

would render the Aeeociaticm amenable

to'therequirements ofArticle glla.
Yours verytruly
ATPORNEY

GmERAL.avTExAs

APPROVED

JAN 30, 1942 /B/ GroverSellma F~TASSIEQWTATltXWEYBy /a/ ZollieC. Steekley ZollleC. StaeUey

Aaeistent APPRovETl

OPImm col4mT?mE