Case Information
*1 Hon. James E. Kilday
Director, Motor Transportation Division
Railroad Commission of Texas
Austin,Texas
Dear Sir:
Opinion No. O-2737 Re: Jurisdiction of Railroad Commission over application of James W. White, proposing a motor bus operation, only 8 fractional pert of which is not within the limits of some incorpo- rated city or town.
From your letter of September 12, l&O, and the attached exhibits, we have the following information: James W. White has filed an application for a certificate of convenience and necessity to operate a motor bus company over the route "Fruitdale Acres, Texas, to Preston Hollow, Texas, via Dallas, Highland Park and University Park." Fruitdale Acres is an incorporated town and adjoining it on the north is the incorporated town of Honey Springs. There is a portion of the Southern boundary of Honey Springs which is coincident with the boundary line of the incorporated City of Dallas, but immediately to the north and east of Honey Springs there is a small area which does not lie within any corporation. North of Dallas and adjacent thereto is Highland Park, an incorporated town, and adjoining it on the north is the incorporated. town of University Park. Immediately north of University Park and adjacent thereto is Preaton:Hollow, also a separate corporation. The proposed operation would go easterly from Fruitdale Acres on a county road, not within the limits of any corporation but over a road Immediately contiguous to and forming a boundary of Honey Springs for a distance of approximately one third of a mile to U. S. Highway No. 75; thence in.S northerly directian over Highway No. outside any corporate limits, but adjoining and forming a boundary of Honey Springs on the east, a distance of nearly a mile, to the Trinity River; thence in a northerly direction for a distance of about 1.1 mile to the boundary of Dallas; thence on a road outside of any city limits but adjacent to and forming a boundary of the City of ~Dallas; a distance of 4.4 miles, at which the corporate limits of the City of Dallas would be entered. The operation would then go through Dallas, Highland Park, University Park into Preston Hollow, at all timas being within the limits of one or the other of such corporations. You request our opinion as to whether the operations applied foraould come within the jurisdiction of the Railroad Commission of Texas.
Hon James E. Kilday, page 2 o-2737
In Article glla, Vernon's Civil Statutes, motor bus companies are made subject to regulation by the State of Texas through its Railroad Conmission. In this act we find a definition of the carrier which is made subject to such regulation. %&ion (c), of Saction 1. thereof reads:
'The term 'Motor Bus Company when used in this Act (Art. glla; P. C. 165Ca)means every corporation or persona as herein defined, their lessees, trustees, receivers, or trustees appointed by any court whatso- ever, owning, controlling, operating, or managing any motor propallec! passenger vehicle, not usually operated on or over rails, and engaged In the business of transporting persons for compensation or hire over the public highways within the State of Texas, whether operating over fixed routes or fixed schedules, or otherwise; provided further, tlat the term 'Motor Bus Company' as used in this Act (Art. 911s; P. C. 16')Ca) shall not include corporations or persons, their lessees, trustees, or recei.vera, or trustees appointed by any court wUk.oever, i~nsofnr as they own, control, operate, or manage motor propelled passenger vehicles operated wholly within the limits of any incorporated town or city and the suburbs thereof, whether separately incorporated or otherwise." Prom the above it ls seen that a person operating 'kholly within the limits of any incorporated town or city and the suburbs thereof, whether separately incorp.rated or not, is not a motor bus carrier subject to regulation 1'~ ihe Railroad Commission. In your letter you cell attention to the enclosed maps and say that "These maps seem to :.indicate clearly that the towns of Preston Hollow and Fruitdale Acres ar: b au urbs of the City of Dallas, since at the nearest point Preston Hollow i.s only about .@( mile from the tit;? 1imi.l;; of Dallas, and at the nearest points Fruitdale is only one mile fro:,; ',~e cit,y limits oi‘ Dallas." Other than this statement from your letter an p,he Pect made obvjous by tb.e maps that all outside points concerned are vx-y cloee to the Cli~y of Dallas, the while distance covered by the operatk1 being; only about 1.3 miles, we are n,t advised whether or not the route: traversed outs!de of ?:;?e City of Dallas are all within its suburbs. We arc not ~l;:~:~?i- ciently fami.l:;ar with the facls to be able to say that as a matt:;' of ln~!,r all such outside pofnts are within the suburbs of the City, or that 'ny of tImm are not. The applicstion in i'self does not disclose the answer Lo the question either on? way or the other, as a matter of law.
The Commission can he?>-? testimol~y on the question. If the evGk!ce shows conclusively that all p~'4a in\ ,lved in the operation are eithc * within the city limits of Dallas or ic' aubl?bs, or if the Commissica so f;,:.Is upon diquted evidence, then the apk-' ,-riion should be dismisr.ed, s5i: 3 the RatI'? ‘ati Commission would be without juris X&ion. On the other hand if 'xe evident:, shows beyond any dispute that SOIE parts of the operation i.rould ::? conducted outs?'.de the limits of Dallas and ::!,a suburbs, or if the Commiss, -1 so fi,rds upon contradictory testimony, the Commission would have jur.i.sdi~ ;~ion to entertain the application upon its :zits.
Hon. James E. Kilday, page 3 O-2737
In Woolf v. Del Rio Motor Tramp. CO., 27 S. W. (2d) by the San Antonio Court of Civil Appeals, it was unsuccessfully contended that Villa Acma was a suburb of Del Rio. The Court remarked that "since the statute does not seek to define the word 'suburb', we are left to work out and give to that word theusual, familiar and generally uuderstood meaning, as used in everydaylife." We further quote from the opinion:
,I . . . The use of the word suburb in Texas statutes in not new, for We have it used and well defined and understood in urban homesteads and other laws. Suburb is defined in Webster's New International Dictionary as follows: 'An outlying pert of a city or tam; a smaller place adjacent to a city.'"
Regretting our inability to answer yourquestion categorically we trust that the above my be of some aid to you.
Yours very truly ATTORNEY GENERALOFTEKAS s/ Glenn R. Lewis
By
Glenn R. Lewis Assistant GRL:AMM
APPROVED SEP 27, 1940
a./ Gerald C. Mann
ATTORNEY GENERALOFTEKAS
APPROVED OPINION C@iMITTEE BY B. W. B. CHAIRMAN