N.Y. Transportation Law § 2: Definitions

§ 2. Definitions. Whenever used in this chapter, unless a different

meaning clearly appears from the context the terms:

1. "Baggage company" means a person engaged under contract or

agreement with a railroad company or street railroad company in the

checking of baggage, or in the collection and delivery of baggage

between railroad stations, or between railroad stations and hotels,

residences, business places or steamer docks.

2. "Bus company" means a person, or a lessee, trustee or receiver

appointed by any court whatsoever, owning, leasing, or operating or

proposing to own, lease or operate a bus line.

3. "Bus line" is a sub-classification of common carrier of passengers

by motor vehicle that is usually characterized by the use of vehicles

having a seating capacity of greater than twenty passengers; by multiple

pickup and discharge points along designated routes; and by no

prearrangements or reservations by passengers.

4. "Certificate" means operating authority issued under this chapter

to common carriers of passengers by motor vehicle, common carriers of

property by motor vehicle and common carriers of household goods by

motor vehicle.

4-a. "Commercial motor vehicle" means any self-propelled or towed

motor vehicle used on a highway in intrastate, interstate or

international commerce to transport passengers or property when the

vehicle (a) has a gross vehicle weight rating or gross combination

weight of ten thousand one pounds or more, whichever is greater; or (b)

is designed or used to transport more than eight passengers including

the driver for compensation; or (c) is designed or used to transport

more than fifteen passengers including the driver and is not used to

transport passengers for compensation; or (d) is used in transporting

material found by the United States secretary of transportation to be

hazardous under section 5103 of title 49 of the United States code and

transported in a quantity requiring placarding under regulations

prescribed by such secretary under subtitle B, chapter I, subchapter C

of title 49 of the code of federal regulations.

5. "Commissioner" means the state commissioner of transportation.

6. "Common carrier" means a railroad company, street railroad company,

express company, car company, sleeping-car company, freight company,

freight line company, baggage company, transfer company, carrier by

water, person or the lessee, trustee or receiver appointed by any court

whatsoever, owning, operating or managing any such agency for public use

in the conveyance of persons or property within this state other than by

use of ski tows and other passenger tramways operated at ski centers.

The term shall not include an express company, baggage company or

transfer company unless it is operated wholly or in part upon or in

connection with a railroad or street railroad or a municipally owned

ferry or ferry company operating under a lease from a city or a carrier

by water except where it is engaged or may be required to be engaged

with a carrier by railroad in the transportation of passengers or

property over a through route partly by water and partly by railroad for

a continuous carriage or shipment between points in this state.

7. "Common carrier of passengers by motor vehicle" means any person

that transports passengers by motor vehicle for compensation by

providing service for the general public on an individual fare basis

over regular or irregular routes. It shall include a bus line as defined

by subdivision three of this section.

8. "Common carrier of property by motor vehicle" means any person that

transports property by motor vehicle for compensation for the general

public.

9. "Contract carrier of passengers by motor vehicle" means any person

that transports passengers by motor vehicle for compensation, in

chartered party or special party service, or by providing service under

a continuing agreement calling for the exclusive use of vehicles by a

person or persons.

10. "Contract carrier of property by motor vehicle" means any person

that transports property by motor vehicle for compensation under special

and individual continuing contracts or arrangements with one person or a

limited number of persons for an extended period of time, or that

provides services in addition to transportation services that are not

normally made available or provided by common carriers of property.

11. "Corporation" means and includes a corporation, company,

association and joint-stock association.

12. "Department" means the state department of transportation.

13. "Governing body" means the local legislative body as such term is

defined in subdivision seven of section two of the municipal home rule

law.

14. "Highway" means a highway, road, street, alley, avenue,

thoroughfare, bridge or public driveway which is opened to the public

and publicly maintained, whether by the state or a subdivision thereof,

or by a public authority.

15. "Household goods" means:

(a) personal effects and property used or to be used in a dwelling

when a part of the equipment or supply of such dwelling and such other

similar property as the commissioner may provide by regulation; except

that this paragraph shall not be construed to include property moving

from a factory or store, except such property as the householder has

purchased with intent to use in his or her dwelling and which is

transported at the request of, and the transportation charges paid to

the carrier by, the householder;

(b) furniture, fixtures, equipment, and the property of stores,

offices, museums, institutions, hospitals or other establishments when a

part of the stock, equipment, or supply of such stores, offices,

museums, institutions, hospitals, or other establishments and such other

similar property as the commissioner may provide by regulation; except

that this paragraph shall not be construed to include the stock-in-trade

of any establishment, whether consignor or consignee, other than used

furniture and used fixtures, except when transported as incidental to

moving of the establishment, or a portion thereof, from one location to

another; and

(c) articles, including objects of art, displays, and exhibits, which

because of their unusual nature or value require the specialized

handling and equipment usually employed in moving household goods and

such other similar articles as the commissioner may provide by

regulation; except that this paragraph shall not be construed to include

any article, whether crated or uncrated, which does not, because of its

unusual nature or value, require the specialized handling and equipment

usually employed in moving household goods.

16. "Infant" or "minor" means a person who has not attained the age of

eighteen years.

17. "Motor carrier" includes common and contract carriers of

passengers by motor vehicle, common and contract carriers of property by

motor vehicle, and common carriers of household goods by motor vehicle.

Any reference in article six, seven, eight or nine of this chapter to a

"common carrier", "contract carrier", "common carrier of property",

"contract carrier of property", "common carrier of passengers", or

"contract carrier of passengers" shall be deemed to mean such type of

carrier by motor vehicle.

18. "Motor vehicle" means a vehicle, machine, bus, tractor, truck

trailer or semi-trailer, propelled or drawn by mechanical power and used

upon the highways in the transportation of property or passengers, but

does not include any locomotive or car operated exclusively on a rail,

rails or track.

19. "Municipal corporation" or "municipality" means a county, city,

village or town; except that in articles three, four and five,

subdivision three of section one hundred seventy-one and section one

hundred ninety of this chapter, a "municipality" shall not include a

county.

20. "Non-profit car pools" means the prearranged transportation of

passengers by motor vehicle to and from their place of employment or

other destination, where moneys paid to the motor vehicle owner are only

for a recovery of some or all of the expenses related directly to the

transporting of the passengers, including tolls, fuel, insurance and

depreciation, provided that the operator of such vehicle does not drive

the motor vehicle for profit.

21. "Permit" means operating authority issued under this chapter to

contract carriers of passengers by motor vehicle and contract carriers

of property by motor vehicle.

22. "Person" means and includes an individual, firm, copartnership,

association or corporation.

23. "Private carriage" means the transportation of property by a

person other than a motor carrier when such person is the owner, lessee

or bailee of the property being transported and when such transportation

is for the purpose of sale, lease, rent or bailment.

23-a. "Private carrier of passenger by motor vehicle" means any person

that transports passengers by commercial motor vehicle which is provided

in the furtherance of a commercial enterprise and which is not for

compensation and is not available to the public at large, in intrastate,

interstate or international commerce.

23-b. "Private motor carrier" means any person who provides

transportation of property or passengers by commercial motor vehicle for

a business purpose and is not a common or contract carrier of passengers

or property by motor vehicle.

24. "Railroad" means a railroad, other than a street railroad,

operated for public use in the conveyance of persons or property for

compensation, with all bridges, ferries, tunnels, equipment, switches,

spurs, tracks, stations and terminal facilities used, operated or owned

by or in connection therewith.

25. "Railroad company" means a person, or a lessee, trustee or

receiver appointed by any court whatsoever, owning, operating or

managing any railroad or cars or other equipment used thereon or in

connection therewith.

26. "School" means every place of academic, vocational or religious

service or instruction for persons under the age of twenty-one, except

places of higher education. It shall include every child care center;

every institution for the care or training of the mentally or physically

handicapped; and every day camp.

27. "Services and transportation provided by a contract carrier of

passengers by motor vehicle" means and includes all vehicles operated

by, for or in the interest of such carrier irrespective of ownership or

of contract, express or implied, together with all facilities and

property operated or controlled by such carrier and used in the

transportation of passengers or in the performance of any service in

connection therewith.

28. "Shipment" means a lot of freight tendered to a carrier by one

consignor at one place at one time for delivery to one consignee at one

place on one bill of lading.

29. "Street railroad" means a railroad by whatever power operated, or

an extension or branch thereof, for public use in the conveyance of

persons or property for compensation, being mainly upon, along, above or

below any highway, including all equipment, switches, spurs, tracks,

right of trackage, subways, tunnels, stations, terminals and terminal

facilities used, operated or owned by or in connection therewith, but

shall not include a railroad constituting or used as part of a trunk

line railroad system.

30. "Street railroad company" means a person, or a lessee, trustee or

receiver appointed by any court whatsoever, owning, operating or

managing any street railroad or cars or other equipment used thereon or

in connection therewith.

31. "Tank motor vehicle" means a motor truck, trailer or semi-trailer

respectively, used for the transportation of liquids, and provided with

a tank or tanks therefor which are mounted on the frame or chassis or

are an integral part of such vehicle.

31-a. "Telecommuting" shall mean the conservation of energy through

the reduction of travel by employees of the department to and from their

designated workplace through the use of telecommunication and computer

technology in tasks including, but not limited to, information transfer

and processing.

32. "Transfer company" means a person engaged under contract or

agreement with a railroad company or street railroad company in the

transfer of passengers or property between railroad stations, or between

railroad stations and hotels, residences, business places or steamer

docks.

33. "Transportation of property" includes any service in connection

with the receiving, delivery, elevation, transfer in transit,

ventilation, refrigeration, icing, storage and handling of the property

transported.

34. "Utility company" or "public utility company" is used to avoid

repetitions in a provision applying to one or more persons operating an

agency or agencies for public service, and who or which is or are

subject to the jurisdiction, supervision and regulations prescribed by

or pursuant to this chapter; such term being so used only as a general

term descriptive of such a person.

35. "Van service" is a sub-classification of common carrier of

passengers by motor vehicle that provides service on a prearranged

regular daily basis between a zone in a residential neighborhood and a

location which shall be a work related central location, a mass transit

or mass transportation facility, a shopping center or recreational

facility, but shall not include service to or from an airport. Such

service is usually characterized by the use of vehicles having a seating

capacity of twenty passengers or less. Provided, however, that if a city

with a population of over one million adopts a local law or ordinance

pursuant to subdivision five of section eighty of this chapter, the term

"van service" as it applies to van service in such city shall include

service that otherwise meets the requirements of this subdivision but is

service to or from an airport.