§ 10:103. Powers and duties of the public transportation commission.

(a)

General responsibility. The commission shall continuously keep abreast of the public transportation needs of the city-parish, shall advise the council as to ways to improve transportation services within the city-parish, and shall have responsibility for coordinating mass transit services and plans so as to provide the best service at the greatest economy to the citizens of the city-parish. It shall have authority to conduct such meetings and receive such testimony as it deems appropriate. It shall also have such additional duties and authority as hereinafter provided. The council administrator shall assist the commission by providing secretarial and clerical services and shall provide for and maintain a depository for the records of the commission.

(b)

Operating permits.

(1)

Applications. The commission shall review applications for operating permits submitted by bus owners and mass transit conveyance owners, and shall require of the applicants such information and documents as may be reasonably related thereto, and shall make decisions on such applications, including decisions as to whether the permit should be granted, the routes, the term (not to exceed three (3) years) of the operating permit, and such additional conditions of the permit as may be appropriate.

(2)

Franchise and permits in effect on effective date of chapter; Capitol Transportation Corporation. The franchise held by Capitol Transportation Corporation (the successor of the rights of the Baton Rouge Bus Company) is hereby confirmed and extended into perpetuity, provided that it is not transferred to any other person without the consent of the council. Capitol Transportation Corporation is hereby authorized consistent with the provisions of R.S. 12:202.1, to provide for a complete public transportation system for the city-parish, and shall be exempt from taxation as provided in such statute.

(3)

Requisite for issuance of operating permit; no vesting of rights. The issuance of operating permits shall be predicated upon a finding that Capitol Transportation Corporation cannot provide service sufficient to meet the needs which the applicant seeks to satisfy by the service described in his application, and that the applicant is of good moral character and will be likely to improve the quality of mass transit services within the city-parish. No rights whatsoever shall vest in the applicant for the routes granted.

(4)

Certain charter bus operations. The provisions of this subsection (b) (relating to operating permits), subsection (c) (relating to fares), section 10:104 (relating to insurance), section 10:107 (relating to vehicle inspection), section 10:113 (relating to routes), section 10:114 (relating to schedules), and section 10:117 (relating to records and reports) shall not apply to any bus owner with respect to any bus owned by him which was engaged in transporting passengers for hire in charter or contract operations, including churches, public or private schools, or schools operated by nonprofit corporations operating under the authority of the Economic Opportunity Act, within and including a period of one hundred eighty (180) days prior to April 9, 1974, and/or any replacement bus thereafter acquired by such owner; provided, however, (1) that any bus owner seeking the exemptions herein provided shall file with the commission, within thirty (30) days after the effective date of the amendment to this section adding the words "public or," a written statement listing his name, permanent mailing address, the number and types of buses exempted, current Louisiana license numbers, and the serial numbers of each bus exempted; and (2) that any bus for which a current certificate of inspection is not on file as provided in section 10:107 must display the certificate of inspection, or a copy thereof, furnished by the state department of public safety, or its successor, in connection with its annual inspection of school buses, evidencing that the bus has, within the previous three hundred sixty-five (365) days, satisfactorily completed an inspection by the department.

(c)

Fares. The commission shall determine, upon application by the holder of an operating permit or an applicant therefor and upon submission by him of such information and documents as may be reasonably related to such application, the schedule of fares which may be charged to passengers for hire, and no bus or mass transit conveyance owner shall make any charges to any passengers exceeding those affirmatively approved by the commission.

Fares shall be set at a level sufficient to enable the owner to provide adequate, economical, efficient and safe transit services considering all surrounding circumstances, such as the availability or nonavailability of public funding for the owner or to another party who is willing to assume the applicant's routes and service. The commission shall have the authority to provide, in appropriate circumstances, that a bus or other mass transit conveyance owner may contract with a group of riders or with a representative of a group of riders for fares, and that such fares agreed upon may be charged without the prior approval of the commission.

(d)

Enforcement of chapter and conditions of permit. The commission shall be charged with the duty of insuring that the provisions of this chapter and all conditions of operating permits are adhered to by providing for the reporting of violations to the appropriate law enforcement agencies, but such duty shall not limit in any way the authority or responsibility of the police or other law enforcement agencies. The commission, or its duly authorized agents, shall have the authority, at all times, but in such a fashion as not to unreasonably affect or delay business operations, to inspect buses and other mass transit conveyances subject to regulation under this chapter, and such driver certificates and business records as are necessary to determine compliance with the provisions hereof. The commission may authorize agents and employees of Capitol Transportation Corporation to carry out such inspection functions, but each commission agent engaged in such inspection functions shall carry a certificate issued by the commission certifying to his authority.

(e)

Hearings and appeals. Any bus owner or mass transit conveyance owner, or any person seeking to become a bus or mass transit conveyance owner as defined in section 10:101, who is aggrieved by a decision of the commission, or by the commission's failure to act on any lawful respect within a reasonable time, may request a hearing thereon and be afforded an opportunity to be heard if there has been no prior hearing on the matter.

If the commission does not conduct the hearing within a reasonable time after the request, or if it does not render a decision reported in its minutes within a reasonable time after a hearing, the aggrieved person may appeal the commission's inaction by filing written notice with the commission and on the same date file with the council administrator, no later than one year from the request upon which the person claims the commission has not acted, a request that the matter be referred to the council for a public hearing. Upon receiving such request within the time limit, the council administrator shall place the matter on the agenda of a regular meeting of the council. This hearing shall be held not less than ten (10) nor more than thirty (30) days after the filing of the appeal. The council, after the hearing, may order the commission to conduct a hearing, may grant the relief sought by the appellant, or may order such action as it deems appropriate. The decision of the council shall be final. No action or decision of the commission may be appealed if it has been reported in the commission's minutes, and copies of such minutes have been forwarded to the council as provided in subsection (f) of this section.

Procedure to make commission action effective:

(1)

Final decisions. The commission shall adopt such rules and regulations as may be necessary for its government and a majority of the commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, but in no event shall decisions or actions of the commission become effective unless they have become "final" as defined below.

(2)

Copies of minutes to be sent to council. There is reserved on behalf of the council the right to receive in writing from the commission copies of all motions, resolutions or decisions (herein sometimes referred to as "actions") taken by the commission promptly after the adoption thereof by the commission and in any event a written copy of such action will be mailed to the office of the council administrator, no later than ten (10) calendar days measured from (but not including) the date of adoption thereof. A written copy of the action adopted by the commission received by the office of the council administrator shall be distributed to each member of the council. The date on which a written copy of action of the commission is received by the council administrator's office is hereinafter referred to as "filing date."

(3)

Council has right to act on commission actions. The council shall have a period of ten (10) calendar days next following and exclusive of the filing date within which to approve, by a majority vote of the council, the minutes of the commission and may suspend or rescind any action of the commission, provided that if a regular meeting of the council is not conducted during said ten (10) days, such period shall be extended to and include the date on which a regular meeting of the council is conducted; further provided that the date following the expiration of the period of time described in the preceding portion of this sentence (whether the ten (10) day or a longer period is shown) shall be defined as and hereinafter referred to as "final date."

(4)

Commission action effective after final date. If the council has not adopted a resolution or ordinance suspending or rescinding an action of the commission prior to the final date, such action shall become "final" on the final date. The term "final" as used in the preceding sentence shall herein mean and refer to any action of the commission, whether in the form of a motion, resolution, or decision which has become legally binding and enforceable. Action of the commission may become final at any time as a result of the adoption of a resolution or ordinance of the council ratifying and approving the action of the commission.

(5)

Emergency action. In case of an emergency affecting the public health, welfare and safety, commission action may become final immediately upon:

a.

Adoption of emergency action by the commission as provided above; and

b.

Obtaining from the council approval and ratification thereof as is authorized by section 2.12 of the plan of government.

(6)

Special meetings of council. Special meetings of the council may be convened (as provided for under the plan of government for the convening of special meetings) and at any regular or special meeting of the council, the council (whether such subject appears on the agenda or not) may consider the question of whether any action of the commission should be suspended, rescinded, ratified or approved.

(7)

Information provided to council. Written copies of actions taken by the commission, whether in the form of a motion, resolution, or decision, shall contain a reference to the time, date and place of the meeting at which the action was adopted, the names of the members of the commission present and voting, and a clear and concise statement of the action adopted. When requested by the council, the commission shall give notice to the council administrator of the time, date, and place of meetings of the commission. Notice of meetings of the commission shall be given to each commission member and the public in the manner and posted as required by general law. All meetings of the commission shall be open to the public as provided by R.S. 42:5 et seq.

(g)

Fees. The commission may charge applicants for and holders of operating permits reasonable fees designed to defray the costs, including the cost of investigative and consulting services, incurred in connection with applications for operating permits and fare approvals, and approval of insurance programs (including self-insurer arrangements), and the commission shall have authority to require an advance deposit for such fees.

(City Code 1951, Title 10, § 103; Parish Code 1962, Title 10, § 103; Ord. No. 11140, §§ 2, 3, 5-13-98; Ord. No. 15539, § 1, 8-14-13)