Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

Honorable Henry Wade Opinion No. C-249 District Attorney Dallas County Re: IB it mandatory that employees Records Building of the City of Dallae, opera- Dallas, Texas ting the Dallas Transit Co. buses, have a commercial Dear Mr. Wade: chauffeur'slicense? You recently requested an opinion of this office on the following question: "Is It mandatory that employees of the City of Dallas, operating the Dallas Transit Co. have a commercial chauffeur'slicense?" You have furnished us with the following facts: "The City of Dallas recently acquired the operatingproperties of the Dallas Transit Company (whloh operated buses with- in the city limits of Dallas and environs); and the City of Dallas Is now operating this public transit system as an official depart- ment of the City of Dallas. "The Dallas Transit Company is wholly owned by th.eCity of Dallas, and the bus operators employed to drive same are full time employees of theeMty of Dallas." Article 6687b, Section l(o), Vernon's Civil Statutes, defines chauffeur as: "'Chauffeur.' Every person who is the driver for wages, compensation,or hire, or for fare, of a motor vehicle transporting passengers." Article 6687b, Section 3,~ Vernon's Civil Statutes, pro- vides in part as follows:

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“Sec. 3. What persona are exempt from license II . . . . “4. . . . It shall not be necessary for an employee,of any incorporatedcity, town or village of this State or county of this State when holding an operator’spermit to obtain a chauffeur’slicense in order to operate an official motor vehicle in the service of such incorporatedcity, town, village or county. I, . . . .II This language has appeared in the statute since Its original passage In 1941. Acts 47th Leg. 1941, ch. 173, p. 247. We see the question to be one of determiningwhat is an 'official motor vehicle" In the "service"of an Incorporatedcity, town, village or county. The Act does not define the term. The word "official"is used as an adjective describingmotor vehicles. The Merriam-WebsterThird Edition InternationalDictionary, 1961, uses the following definition for the adjective "official": "belongingor relating to an office, po- sition, or trust: connectedwith holding an office. . .: holding an office or serving In a public position: authorizedto perform a service. . .'I If we consider the term "officialmotor vehicle" as a noun, the definitionbecomes more restrictive. We are, therefore, of the opinion that Article 6687b, Section 3, Paragraph 4, means those motor vehicles owned by the city for the use of an official of the city, as for example where a mayor, city manager, police chief, etc. are furnished with automobileswhich are drlven by city employees;also fire engines, police vehicles, etc. Row- ever, city buses are not "official"vehicles of the city, be- cause they are not in the service of the city, as such, and the passengers are being transportedfor hire or compensation. The city only indirectly benefits from the profits accruing from the operation. The service to the travelingpublic is not a governmentalfunction of the city. 18 McQuillin on Municipal Corporations(3rd Ed. Rev.) Sec. 53.108 on p. 426 says:

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"In operating a system of buses for the transportationof passengers for hire, a city functions in its corporate,as distinguished from it governmentalcapacity, and may be held liable for injuries sustained through the negligent operation of a bus. A city Is liable as a common carrier with respect to passengers, and is required to exercise a high degree of care for their safety, not only while being transported,but also when entering the vehi- cle, or alighting therefrom. . . ." City of Amarillo v. Tutor, 267 S.W. 697, Tex. Comm. App. 1924 ; City of Amarillo v. Green, 267 S.W. 702 tTex. Comm. App. 19241; 39 Tex.Jur.2d 27b, Municipal and InterurbanTransportation,Sec. 2. It, therefore, seems that the Legislature Intended to give the public the protection of operators with a chauffeur's license driving city-ownedbuses as the city, acting in Its corporate or non-governmentalcapacity, is required to exercise a high degree of care for the safety of the passengers being. transported. We are, therefore,of the opinion that Paragraph 4, Sec- tion 3 of Article 6687b does not apply to city owned buses because such buses are not "officialmotor vehicles" in the service of the city, and the city in operating the bus company is not acting in a governmentalcapacity. SUMMARY Rnployees of the City of Dallas operating Dallas Transit Company buses must have a com- mercial chauffeur'slicense as required by Article 6687b, V. C. S., even though the Dallas Transit Company is wholly owned by the City of Dallas and the bus operators employed to drive the buses of the company are full-time employees of the City of Dallas. Yours very truly,

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NVS:aj APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE W. V. Geppert, Chairman Paul R. Robertson John Reeves Robert Smith W. 0. Shultz APPROVED FOR THE ATTOIWEP GENERAL BY: Stanton Stone

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