2022 Georgia Code
Title 16 - Crimes and Offenses
Chapter 12 - Offenses Against Public Health and Morals
Article 4 - Offenses Against Public Transportation
Part 2 - Transportation Passenger Safety
§ 16-12-122. Definitions

As used in this part, the term:

1. “Aircraft” means any machine, whether heavier or lighter than air, used or designed for navigation of or flight in the air.
2. “Avoid a security measure” means to take any action that is intended to result in any person, baggage, container, or item of any type being allowed into a secure area without being subjected to security measures or the assembly of items into an object or substance that is prohibited under the laws of this state or of the United States or any of their agencies, political subdivisions, or authorities after such items have passed through a security measure into a secure area.
3. “Bus” means any passenger bus or coach or other motor vehicle having a seating capacity of not less than 15 passengers operated by a transportation company for the purpose of carrying passengers or freight for hire.
4. “Charter” means a group of persons, pursuant to a common purpose and under a single contract and at a fixed charge for the vehicle in accordance with a transportation company’s tariff, who have acquired the exclusive use of an aircraft, bus, or rail vehicle to travel together as a group to a specified destination.
5. “Interfere with a security measure” means to take any action that is intended to defeat, disable, or prevent the full operation of equipment or procedures designed or intended to detect any object or substance, including, but not limited to, disabling of any device so that it cannot fully function, creation of any diversion intended to defeat a security measure, or packaging of any item or substance so as to avoid detection by a security measure.
6. “Passenger” means any person served by the transportation company; and, in addition to the ordinary meaning of passenger, the term shall include any person accompanying or meeting another person who is transported by such company, any person shipping or receiving freight, and any person purchasing a ticket or receiving a pass.
7. “Rail vehicle” means any railroad or rail transit car, carriage, coach, or other vehicle, whether self-propelled or not and designed to be operated upon a rail or rails or other fixed right of way by a transportation company for the purpose of carrying passengers or freight or both for hire.
8. “Secure area” means any enclosed or unenclosed area within a terminal whereby access is restricted in any manner or the possession of items subject to security measures is prohibited. Access to a secure area may be restricted to persons specifically authorized by law, regulation, or policy of the governing authority or transportation company operating said terminal, and such access into a secure area may be conditioned on passing through security measures, and possession of items may be restricted to designated persons who are acting in the course of their official duties.
9. “Security measure” means any process or procedure by which employees, agents, passengers, persons accompanying passengers, containers, baggage, freight, or possessions of passengers or persons accompanying passengers are screened, inspected, or examined by any means for the purpose of ensuring the safety and welfare of aircraft, bus, or rail vehicles and the employees, agents, passengers, and freight of any transportation company. The security measures may be operated by or under the authority of any governmental entity, transportation company, or any entity contracting therewith.
10. “Terminal” means an aircraft, bus, or rail vehicle station, depot, any such transportation facility, or infrastructure relating thereto operated by a transportation company or governmental entity or authority. This term includes a reasonable area immediately adjacent to any designated stop along the route traveled by any coach or rail vehicle operated by a transportation company or governmental entity operating aircraft, bus, or rail vehicle transportation facility and parking lots or parking areas adjacent to a terminal.
11. “Transportation company” or “company” means any person, group of persons, or corporation providing for-hire transportation to passengers or freight by aircraft, by bus upon the highways in this state, by rail vehicle upon any public or private right of way in this state, or by all, including passengers and freight in interstate or intrastate travel. This term shall also include transportation facilities owned or operated by local public bodies; by municipalities; and by public corporations, authorities, boards, and commissions established under the laws of this state, any of the several states, the United States, or any foreign nation.

History. Ga. L. 1978, p. 2238, § 2; Ga. L. 1988, p. 415, § 2; Ga. L. 2002, p. 1094, § 5.

Editor’s notes.

Ga. L. 2002, p. 1094, § 1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Transportation Security Act of 2002’ .”