2006 New York Code - 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.
    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.
    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.