2023 New York Laws › TRA - Transportation › Article 5 - The Powers of the Commissioner in Respect to Common Carriers › 119 - Rates and Service to Be Fixed by the Commissioner.

§ 119. Rates and service to be fixed by the commissioner. 1.  Whenever
the  commissioner shall find, after a hearing had upon his own motion or
upon a complaint, that the rates, fares or  charges  demanded,  exacted,
charged  or  collected by any common carrier subject to his jurisdiction
for the transportation of persons or property within the state, or  that
the regulations or practices of such common carrier affecting such rates
are    unjust,   unreasonable,   unjustly   discriminatory   or   unduly
preferential, or in violation of law, or that the maximum  rates,  fares
or  charges,  chargeable  by any such common carrier are insufficient to
yield reasonable compensation for the service rendered, and  are  unjust
and  unreasonable,  the  commissioner  shall with due regard among other
things to the estimated prospective earning capacity of such property at
the rate of fare at the time fixed and  existent  and  to  a  reasonable
average  return  upon  the  value  of  the property actually used in the
public service, and to the necessity of making reservation out of income
for surplus and contingencies, determine the just and reasonable  rates,
fares  and charges to be thereafter observed and in force as the maximum
to be charged for the service to be performed,  notwithstanding  that  a
higher rate, fare or charge has been heretofore authorized by general or
special  statute,  and shall fix the same by order to be served upon all
common carriers by whom such rates, fares and charges are thereafter  to
be observed.
At  any hearing involving a rate, the burden of proof to show that the
change in rate if proposed by the common carrier, or that  the  existing
rate,  if on motion of the commissioner or in a complaint filed with the
commissioner it is proposed to reduce the rate, is just  and  reasonable
shall  be  upon the common carrier; and the commissioner may give to the
hearing and  decision  of  such  questions  preference  over  all  other
questions  pending  before  him  and  decide  the  same  as  speedily as
possible.
Whenever the commissioner shall find, after a hearing had upon his own
motion, or upon a complaint, that the rates, fares or charges  demanded,
exacted,  charged  or  collected  by  any  common carrier subject to his
jurisdiction for excursion, school or  family  commutation,  commutation
passenger  tickets, half fare tickets for the transportation of children
under six years of age, or any other form of reduced  rate  tickets  for
the transportation of persons within the state, or joint interchangeable
mileage  tickets,  with  special  privileges  as  to  the amount of free
baggage that may be carried under mileage tickets of one thousand  miles
or  more  within the state, or that the regulations or practices of such
common carriers affecting such rates are unjust, unreasonable,  unjustly
discriminatory  or  unduly preferential, or in violation of law, or that
the maximum rates, fares or charges collected or charged for any of such
forms of reduced fare  passenger  transportation  tickets  by  any  such
common carrier are insufficient to yield reasonable compensation for the
service  rendered,  and  are  unjust  and unreasonable, and whenever the
commissioner shall find, after a hearing had upon his own motion or upon
a complaint, and upon investigation, that the sale of any form or  forms
of reduced passenger ticket heretofore sold or used upon any railroad or
street  railroad  within  the  state, the use or sale of which ticket or
tickets has been discontinued within five years prior to June thirtieth,
nineteen hundred and eleven, will be just  and  reasonable  and  not  in
violation  of  any  provision of this chapter or other provision of law,
the commissioner shall, with  due  regard,  among  other  things,  to  a
reasonable  average  return upon the value of the property actually used
in the public service and to the necessity of making reservation out  of
income  for surplus and contingencies, determine the just and reasonable
rates, fares and charges to be thereafter observed and enforced  as  the

maximum  to  be  charged  for  such mileage, excursion, school or family
commutation, commutation, half fare or any other form  of  reduced  rate
tickets  for  the  transportation  of  persons, or joint interchangeable
mileage  tickets  with  special privileges as aforesaid, and shall order
the sale and use thereof to be restored, or any of the kinds of  tickets
herein  specified  or  any  other  form  of  reduced rate ticket for the
transportation of persons within the state, upon any railroad or  street
railroad  within  this state, upon which railroad or street railroad any
such form of ticket or tickets for the transportation of persons  within
the  state,  have,  within  five years prior to June thirtieth, nineteen
hundred and eleven, been sold or used, and shall determine and prescribe
the reasonable and just  rates,  fares  and  charges  to  be  thereafter
observed  and enforced as the maximum to be charged for any of such form
of ticket or tickets for the transportation of persons within the state,
all of which acts fixing such rates, fares and charges or requiring  the
restoration  of, sale and use of any of such forms of ticket or tickets,
shall be by order to  be  served  upon  all  common  carriers,  railroad
companies  and  street  railroad companies by whom such rates, fares and
charges or restoration of, sale or use of such  ticket  or  tickets  are
thereafter to be observed.
2. Whenever the commissioner shall find, after a hearing, had upon his
own   motion   or  upon  complaint,  that  the  regulations,  practices,
equipment, appliances, or service of any such common carrier in  respect
to  transportation  of  persons or property within the state are unjust,
unreasonable, unsafe, improper or  inadequate,  the  commissioner  shall
determine  the  just, reasonable, safe, adequate and proper regulations,
practices, equipment, appliances and service thereafter to be in  force,
to  be  observed  and  to  be used in such transportation of persons and
property and so fix and prescribe the same by order to  be  served  upon
every  common  carrier  to be bound thereby; and thereafter every common
carrier shall observe and obey each and every requirement of every  such
order  so served upon it, and do everything necessary or proper in order
to secure absolute compliance with and observance of every such order by
all of its officers, agents and employees.
3. The commissioner shall have power by order to require  any  two  or
more common carriers whose lines, owned, operated, controlled or leased,
form  a continuous or connecting line of transportation or could be made
to do so by the construction and maintenance  of  switch  connection  or
interchange  track  at  connecting  point, or by transfer of property or
passengers at connecting points, to establish through routes  and  joint
rates,  fares  and  charges  for  the  transportation  of passengers and
property within the  state  as  the  commissioner  may,  by  his  order,
designate;  and  in  case  such  through  routes  and joint rates be not
established by the common carriers named in any such  order  within  the
time  therein  specified,  the  commissioner  shall  establish  just and
reasonable rates, fares and charges to  be  charged,  for  such  through
transportation,  and  declare  the  portion thereof to which each common
carrier, affected thereby shall be entitled and the manner in which  the
same  shall  be  paid  and secured; and the commissioner shall also have
power in the same proceeding, or in a separate proceeding involving  any
rates,  fares  or charges to prescribe joint rates and fares and charges
as the  maximum  to  be  exacted  for  the  transportation  by  them  of
passengers  and  property  within  the state, and to require such common
carriers affected thereby to make within a specified time  an  agreement
between  them as to the portion of such joint rates, fares or charges to
which each of them shall be entitled; and in case such agreement be  not
so  made  within  the  time so specified the commissioner may declare by
supplemental order the portion thereof  to  which  each  common  carrier

affected  thereby  shall  be  entitled  and the manner in which the same
shall be paid and secured; such supplemental order shall take effect  as
part  of  the original order from the time such supplemental order shall
become effective.
All  powers  of the commissioner to establish through routes and order
joint rates, fares and charges as above conferred in relation to  common
carriers  by  railroad,  shall  extend and apply to the establishment of
through routes and ordering of joint rates, fares and  charges  for  use
and  observance  by  common  carriers by railroad and common carriers by
water.
When property may be or is transported from  point  to  point  in  the
state  of  New  York  by  rail  and water, the transportation being by a
common  carrier  or  carriers,  and  entirely  within  such  state,  the
commissioner  shall  have jurisdiction of such transportation and of the
carriers, both by rail and by water, which may or do engage in the same,
in the following particulars, in addition to the jurisdiction  given  by
other provisions of this chapter:
(a)  To  establish  physical  connection between the lines of the rail
carrier and the dock of the water carrier by directing the rail  carrier
to make suitable connection between its line and a track or tracks which
have  been  constructed from the dock to the limits of its right of way,
or by directing either or both the rail and water carrier,  individually
or  in  connection  with  one another, to construct and connect with the
lines of the rail carrier a spur track  or  tracks  to  the  dock.  This
provision   shall   only   apply  where  the  connection  is  reasonably
practicable, can be made with safety to the public, and where the amount
of business existing or prospective is sufficient to justify the outlay.
The commissioner shall have full authority to determine the terms  and
conditions  upon  which these connecting tracks, when constructed, shall
be operated, and he may either in the construction or the  operation  of
such  tracks,  determine what sum shall be paid to or by either carrier.
The provisions of this paragraph shall extend to cases where the dock is
owned by other parties than the  carrier  involved.    The  commissioner
shall  have authority to compel common carriers by rail to make physical
connection between their tracks and  public  terminals  established  and
operated  by the state under the provisions of chapter seven hundred and
forty-six of the laws of nineteen hundred and eleven, at the expense  of
such  carrier and of the state in such proportions as may be reasonable,
where such connection is practicable. The commissioner shall  also  have
authority to compel common carriers by rail to operate upon the railroad
tracks  within such public terminals by such common carriers' own motive
power and servants all rolling stock going to or coming from such public
terminals. Common carriers by rail required  to  make  such  connections
shall  file  tariffs  for all service into and out of such terminals and
over the connecting lines of such carriers by rail, if complaint is made
by any person that the rates so made are unreasonable, the burden  shall
be  upon  the  common carrier by rail to establish the reasonableness of
such  rates.  If  the  rates  are  found  by  the  commissioner  to   be
unreasonable, the commissioner shall establish reasonable rates. The use
and operation of such connections and the spotting, placing and removing
of  rolling stock shall be in accordance with the regulations prescribed
by the commissioner.
(b) To establish through routes and from time to  time  order  maximum
joint rates between and over such rail and water lines, and to determine
all  the  terms and conditions under which such a line shall be operated
in the handling of the traffic embraced.
(c) To establish maximum proportional rates by rail to and from places
to which the traffic is brought, or from which it is taken by the  water

carrier,  and  to  determine  to  what  traffic  and upon what terms and
conditions such rates shall apply. By proportional rates are meant those
which differ from corresponding local rates to and  from  the  place  of
receipt and delivery and which apply only to traffic which is brought to
the  place  of  receipt  and delivery or is carried from that place by a
common carrier by water.
(d)  If  any  rail  carrier  subject  to  this  chapter  enters   into
arrangements  with  any  water  carrier  operating  in the state for the
handling  of  business  between  interior  points  in  said  state,  the
commissioner may require such carrier to enter into similar arrangements
with any or all other common carriers by water operating therein.
(e)  No  common  carrier by rail shall own, lease, operate, control or
have any interest whatsoever, by stock ownership  or  otherwise,  either
directly  or indirectly, through any holding company, or by stockholders
or directors in common, or in any other manner, in any common carrier by
water, with which said common carrier does or may compete  for  traffic,
or  in  vessels,  boats  or barges carrying freight upon any water route
with which such common carrier does or may compete for traffic.
Jurisdiction is hereby conferred  on  the  commissioner  to  determine
questions  of  fact as to the competition or possibility of competition,
after full hearing, on the application of any railroad company or  other
carrier.  Such  application  may be filed for the purpose of determining
whether any existing service is in violation of this  section  and  pray
for an order permitting the continuance of any vessel or vessels already
in  operation,  or  for  the  purpose  of asking an order to install new
service not in conflict with  the  provisions  of  this  paragraph.  The
commissioner  may  on  his  own motion or the application of any shipper
institute proceedings to inquire into the operation of any vessel in use
by  any  railroad  or  other  carrier  which  has  not  applied  to  the
commissioner  and  had the question of competition or the possibility of
competition determined as herein provided.
(f) The provisions  of  sections  ninety-eight,  ninety-nine  and  one
hundred, relating to filing, publication and changes of rates, fares and
charges  of common carriers shall apply to all rates, fares and charges,
and regulations and practices affecting rates,  fares  and  charges  for
transportation  partly  by  water  and partly by railroad, when both the
water line and the railroad line are used for a continuous  carriage  or
shipment;  but  the  said  section  shall  not  apply to rates, fares or
charges, or regulations or practices affecting rates, fares or  charges,
established  by  any  such common carrier by water for local carriage or
shipment of passengers or property between points in  this  state  which
are  served  by such common carrier wholly by water and independently of
any railroad service.
The provisions of this chapter, and the powers  of  the  commissioner,
relating  to  the  transportation of passengers and property by railroad
apply to  the  transportation  of  passengers  and  property  partly  by
railroad  and partly by water when both the railroad line and such water
line are used for a continuous carriage or shipment  between  points  in
this  state;  and  the  provisions of this chapter and the powers of the
commissioner respecting common carriers  by  water  are  hereby  limited
thereto,  except  as  may  be  in  this  section  otherwise specifically
provided.
4. If the commissioner shall be of the opinion that through  cars  for
the  transportation  of  property  should be operated over the tracks of
said common carriers and that switch connection or interchange track  at
a  connecting  point, if not already existing, should be constructed and
maintained by such common carriers, to the  end  that  property  may  be
carried  without change of cars, the commissioner shall have power after

a hearing to require by order said common carriers to receive from  each
other and transport for each other such cars over each other's tracks by
way  of  such  switch  connection  or  interchange track, and if no such
switch  connection  or interchange track exist to construct and maintain
said switch connection or  interchange  track,  and  to  make  within  a
specified time not less than thirty days an agreement between them as to
the terms of such receipt and transportation of cars, and if so required
as  to  the division of the expense of such construction and maintenance
of switch connection or interchange track; and in case such agreement be
not so made within the time so specified, the commissioner shall after a
hearing declare by supplemental order  the  terms  and  conditions  upon
which  such  cars  shall be received and transported, and if so required
the portion of such  expense  to  which  each  common  carrier  affected
thereby  shall  be entitled and the manner in which any sums of money to
which any such common carrier is entitled shall be paid and secured, and
such supplemental order shall take effect as part of the original  order
from the time such supplemental order shall become effective. Nothing in
this   subdivision  shall  require  a  through  route  between  railroad
companies and street railroad companies between points reached  by  such
railroad companies. In case upon the termination of a lease or otherwise
the  owner  or  lessor  of  a  rapid  transit railroad resumes operation
thereof and thereupon such owner or lessor or the lessee discontinues or
threatens to discontinue or refuses or threatens  to  refuse  to  permit
operation  over  any  extension  or  extensions  of  such  rapid transit
railroad or railroads or any of them, or discontinues  or  threatens  to
discontinue  or  refuses or threatens to refuse to permit operation over
other railroads on which such lessee had operated under trackage rights,
then and in either of those  events  the  commissioner  may  order  that
through cars for the transportation of passengers shall be operated over
such  extension or extensions and over the tracks of such other railroad
over  which  such  lessee  may  have  had  trackage  rights,   and   the
commissioner  shall have power, after a hearing to require by order such
operating, including the right to order such switch or other connections
or interchange tracks as  may  be  necessary,  and  if  so  required  to
determine  as  to  the  division  of  the expense of the maintenance and
operation thereof. The commissioner may, after a hearing, prescribe  the
terms  and  conditions upon which such operations shall be conducted and
the manner in which receipts and expenses shall be apportioned.  Pending
the hearing or hearings provided for herein, and the determinations  and
orders  of  the commissioner thereon, the commissioner shall have power,
if in his judgment the public interest requires it, to issue a temporary
order requiring said rapid transit railroad companies  to  receive  from
each  other,  and  transport for each other, such cars over each other's
tracks by way of switch connection or interchange track, and if no  such
switch connection or interchange track exists, to construct and maintain
said  switch connection or interchange track; and upon the completion of
said hearing or hearings, and  the  determinations  and  orders  of  the
commissioner   thereafter   made,   the   terms   of   the  receipt  and
transportation of cars, and the readjustment of compensation and expense
involved, shall take effect as of the original date  of  such  temporary
order of the commissioner. If upon the expiration or earlier termination
of  a lease, the free transfer or interchange of passengers, theretofore
in effect and permitted by the lessee of a rapid transit railroad at any
point or points between the lines of the rapid transit  railroads  owned
or  leased  and  operated  by it, is discontinued or is threatened to be
discontinued, the commissioner shall have power by order to require  the
companies,  by  which  the  said lines of rapid transit railroads may be
operated after the termination of the lease, to continue or re-establish

such through routes formerly existing, and  to  establish  joint  rates,
fares  and  charges  for the transportation of passengers thereon in the
manner provided by subdivision three. Pending the  hearing  or  hearings
provided   for   herein,  and  the  determinations  and  orders  of  the
commissioner thereon, the commissioner  shall  have  power  to  issue  a
temporary  order  requiring  the  companies then operating said lines of
rapid transit railroad to restore the said free transfer or  interchange
of  passengers  at  the  point  or points on said rapid transit railroad
lines where the said free transfer or interchange was formerly in effect
and permitted; and upon the completion of said hearing or hearings,  and
the  determinations  and orders of the commissioner thereafter made, the
terms and conditions under which the portion of said joint rates,  fares
and  charges  to  which each company shall be entitled and the manner in
which the same shall be paid and secured, shall take effect  as  of  the
original date of such temporary order of the commissioner.