Section 480-30-036. Definitions, general.

(1) See WAC 480-30-261 for definition of terms used primarily in tariffs and time schedules and WAC 480-30-216 for definitions used in driver and vehicle safety rules.

(2) Unless the language or context indicates that a different meaning is intended, the following definitions apply:

"Agent" means a person authorized to transact business for, and in the name of, another.

"Airporter service" means an auto transportation service that starts or ends at a station served by another type of transportation such as, air or rail transportation. Airporter service is often a premium service that involves handling luggage. Although stops may be made along the way, they are usually limited to picking up or discharging passengers, luggage, and/or express freight bound to or from the airport or depot served.

"Alternate arrangements for passengers" means the travel arrangements made by an auto transportation company that has accepted a trip booking or reservation from a passenger and that is unable to provide the agreed transportation. The alternate arrangements may require travel by another carrier or mode of transportation at no additional cost to the passenger beyond what the passenger would have paid for the original transportation arrangement.

"Application docket" means a commission publication providing notice of all applications requesting auto transportation operating authority, with a description of the authority requested. The commission sends this publication to all persons currently holding auto transportation authority, to all persons with pending applications for auto transportation authority, to affected local jurisdictions or agencies, and to all other persons who asked to receive copies of the application docket.

"Area" means a defined geographical location. Examples include, but are not limited to:

(a) A specified city or town;

(b) A specified county, group of counties, or subdivision of the state, e.g., western Washington;

(c) A zone, e.g., company designated territory; or

(d) A route, e.g., area within four road miles of Interstate 5.

"Auto transportation company" means every person owning, controlling, operating, or managing any motor-propelled vehicle not usually operated on or over rails, used in the business of transporting persons over any public highway in this state between fixed termini or over a regular route, and not operating exclusively within the incorporated limits of any city or town.

"Between fixed termini or over a regular route" means the fixed points between which an auto transportation company provides service or the route over which an auto transportation company ordinarily operates any motor-propelled vehicle, even though there may be variance whether the variance is periodic or irregular.

"Bus" means a motor vehicle designed, constructed, and/or used for the transportation of passengers.

"Business days" means days of the week excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and official state holidays.

"By-reservation-only service" means transportation of passengers by an auto transportation company, with routes operated only if passengers have made prior reservations.

"Certificate" means:

(a) The certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the Washington utilities and transportation commission under the provisions of chapter 81.68 RCW to operate as an auto transportation company; or

(b) The certificate issued by the Washington utilities and transportation commission under chapter 81.70 RCW to operate as a charter and excursion carrier in the state of Washington.

"Certificated authority" means:

(a) The territory and services granted by the commission and described in an auto transportation company's certificate of public convenience and necessity; or

(b) Operations in the state of Washington for charter and excursion service carriers.

"Charter party carrier" or "charter carrier" means every person engaged in the transportation of a group of persons who, pursuant to a common purpose and under a single contract, have acquired the use of a motor bus to travel together as a group to a specified destination or for a particular itinerary, either agreed upon in advance or modified by the chartering group after having left the place of origin, or who is engaged in the transportation of persons by party bus over any public highway in this state.

"Claim" means a demand made on a company for payment resulting from a loss sustained through the company's negligence or for inadequate service provided by the company.

"Closed-door service" means a portion of a route or territory in which an auto transportation company is not allowed to pick up or deliver passengers. Closed-door service restrictions must be clearly stated in an auto transportation company's certificate.

"Common purpose" means that a group of persons is traveling together to achieve a common goal or objective. For example, a group of persons traveling together to attend a common function or to visit a common location. For the purposes of these rules it does not mean a group of persons who have no common goal other than transportation to, or from, the airport.

"Commission" means the Washington utilities and transportation commission.

"Common carrier" means any person who transports passengers by motor vehicle over the public highways for compensation.

"Company" means an entity authorized by the commission to transport passengers, for compensation, using a motor vehicle, over the public highways of the state.

"Complaint" means one of two types of actions by a person against a passenger transportation company that the commission regulates:

(a) "Informal complaints" are those complaints filed with the commission under the provisions of WAC 480-07-910. Informal complaints are normally investigated and resolved by commission staff.

(b) "Formal complaints" are those complaints filed with the commission under the provisions of WAC 480-07-370. In a formal complaint, the burden of proof resides with the complaining party who must prove its assertions in a formal commission proceeding.

"Connecting service" means an auto transportation company service over a route, or routes, that require passengers to transfer from one vehicle to another vehicle operated by either the same company or a different company before reaching the ending point.

"Contract carrier" means a person holding a certificate issued by the commission authorizing transportation of passengers under special and individual contracts or agreements.

"Customer" means a person who purchased transportation services from an auto transportation company or a person, corporation, or other entity that prearranges for transportation services with a charter party carrier or purchases a ticket for transportation services aboard an excursion service carrier.

"Direct route" means an auto transportation company service over a route that goes from the beginning point to the ending point with limited, if any, stops along the way, and traveling only to points located on the specific route without requiring a passenger to transfer from one vehicle to another.

"Discontinuance of service":

(a) "Permanent discontinuance of service" means that a company holding auto transportation authority issued by the commission is unable to continue to provide all, or part of, the service authorized by the company's certificate, filed tariff, or filed time schedule and requests commission permission to permanently discontinue all, or part of, its service and relinquish that certificate or portion of that certificate. See WAC 480-30-186.

(b) "Temporary discontinuance of service" means that a company holding auto transportation authority issued by the commission is unable to continue to provide all, or part of, the service authorized by the company's certificate, filed tariff, or filed time schedule and requests commission permission to discontinue all, or part of, its service for a specified, limited period of time.

"Door-to-door service" means an auto transportation company service provided between a location identified by the passenger and a point specifically named by the company in its filed tariff and time schedule.

"Double-decker bus" means a motor vehicle with more than one passenger deck.

"Excursion service carrier" or "excursion carrier" means every person engaged in the transportation of persons for compensation over any public highway in the state from points of origin within any city, town, or area, to any other location within the state of Washington and returning to that origin. The service will not pick up or drop off passengers after leaving and before returning to the area of origin. The excursions may or may not be regularly scheduled. Compensation for the transportation offered must be computed, charged, or assessed by the excursion service company on an individual fare basis.

"Express freight/package service" means transportation of freight and packages, other than packages or baggage carried or checked by passengers, offered by a passenger transportation company.

"Express passenger service" means auto transportation company service provided between fixed points or stations with few, if any, stops along the route, and is designed to get passengers from origin to destination more quickly than normally scheduled passenger service.

"Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration" means an agency of the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) and successor agency to the former Interstate Commerce Commission.

"Filing" means any application, petition, tariff proposal, annual report, comment, complaint, pleading, or other document submitted to the commission.

"Fixed termini" means points of origin and destination that are set, static locations or defined geographic areas. Examples include a city or town, a building or an airport. In addition "fixed termini" can include service between an airport and unlimited points within a defined geographic area.

"Flag stops" means a point along an auto transportation company's normally traveled routes where the company stops only if it receives notification that a passenger wishes to board the vehicle at that point. An auto transportation company must list available flag stops in the company's tariffs and time schedules. Flag stops may only be named at points that provide waiting passengers safe access to the vehicle.

"Group" means:

(a) Two or more passengers traveling together;

(b) A class of passengers to whom special rates and/or rules apply. For example, active military personnel.

"Intermediate point" means a point located on a route between two other points that are specifically named in an auto transportation company's certificate or tariff.

"Intermediate service" means service to an intermediate point.

"Interruption in service" means a period of time during which an auto transportation company cannot provide service listed in its certificate, its filed tariff, or its filed time schedule. An interruption in service is normally short lived, lasting no more than a few hours or a few days.

"Leasing":

(a) "Leasing authority" means one auto transportation company allowing another person to operate all, or a portion, of the authority granted to the first company by the commission. A joint application to, and approval from, the commission is required to lease authority. See WAC 480-30-141.

(b) "Leasing equipment" means the act of a passenger transportation company to supplement its fleet by acquiring a vehicle(s) from a third party for a specified period of time under contract. See WAC 480-30-236.

"Liquor permit holder" means a holder of an appropriate special permit to provide liquor issued under chapter 66.20 RCW, who is twenty-one years of age or older and who is responsible for compliance with the requirements of WAC 480-30-244 and chapter 66.20 RCW during the provision of transportation services.

"Motor vehicle" or "vehicle" means:

(a) As related to auto transportation companies: Every self-propelled vehicle used on the public highways, for the transportation of persons for compensation.

(b) As related to charter and excursion carriers: Every self-propelled vehicle with a manufacturer's seating capacity for eight or more passengers, including the driver, used on the public highways, for the transportation of persons for compensation.

"Named points" means cities, towns, or specific locations that are listed in an auto transportation company's certificate, tariff, or time schedule.

"Nonstop service" means transportation of passengers from point of origin to point of destination without stopping at any intermediate points.

"On-call service" means unscheduled auto transportation company service provided only to those passengers that have by prior arrangement requested service prior to boarding.

"Party bus" means any motor vehicle whose interior enables passengers to stand and circulate throughout the vehicle because seating is placed around the perimeter of the bus or is nonexistent and in which food, beverages, or entertainment may be provided. A motor vehicle configured in the traditional manner of forward-facing seating with a center aisle is not a party bus.

"Passenger facility" means a location at which an auto transportation company stations employees and at which passengers can purchase tickets or pay fares for transportation service.

"Passenger transportation company" means an auto transportation company or charter and excursion carrier.

"Person" means an individual, firm, corporation, association, partnership, lessee, receiver, trustee, consortium, joint venture, or commercial entity.

"Premium service" means a type of service provided by an auto transportation company that is outside normal service. Examples include express service, direct route service, and nonstop door-to-door service.

"Private carrier" means a person who transports passengers in the person's own vehicle purely as an incidental adjunct to some other established private business owned or operated by that person in good faith.

"Private motor vehicle" means a vehicle owned or operated by a private carrier.

"Public highway" means every street, road, or highway in this state.

"Public transit agency" means a municipal corporation or agency of state or local government formed under the laws of the state of Washington for the purpose of providing transportation services including, but not limited to, public transportation benefit areas, regional transit authorities, municipal transit authorities, city and county transit agencies.

"Residence" means the regular dwelling place of an individual or individuals.

"Route" means a highway or combination of highways over which an auto transportation company provides passenger service. There are two types of routes:

(a) "Irregular route" means travel between points named in an auto transportation company's certificate via any highway or combination of highways the company wishes to operate over. The certificate issued to the company does not list highways to be used, but the company defines routes in its tariffs and time schedules.

(b) "Regular route" means an auto transportation company providing passenger transportation over a route named in the certificate issued to the company by the commission.

"Scheduled service" means an auto transportation company providing passenger service at specified arrival and/or departure times at points on a route.

"Single contract" means an agreement between a charter carrier and a group of passengers to provide transportation services at a set price for the group or trip. Under a single contract, passengers are not charged individually.

"Small business" means any company that has fifty or fewer employees.

"Special or promotional fares" means temporary fares for specific services offered for no more than ninety days.

"State" means the state of Washington.

"Subcontracting - Auto transportation company" means that an auto transportation company holding authority from the commission contracts with a second auto transportation company to provide service that the original company has agreed to provide, but finds it is unable to provide. See WAC 480-30-166.

"Subcontracting - Charter and excursion carrier" means that a charter and excursion carrier holding authority from the commission contracts with a second charter and excursion carrier to provide service that the original carrier has agreed to provide, but finds it is unable to provide.

"Substitute vehicle" means a vehicle used to replace a disabled vehicle for less than thirty days.

"Suspension" means an act by the commission to temporarily revoke a company's certificated authority; or an act by the commission to withhold approval of an auto transportation company's tariff filing.

"Tariff" or "tariff schedule" means a document issued by an auto transportation company containing the services provided, the rates the company must assess its customers for those services, and the rules describing how the rates apply.

"Tariff service territory" means a company-defined geographic area of its certificated authority in which a specific tariff applies.

"Temporary certificate" means the certificate issued by the Washington utilities and transportation commission under RCW 81.68.046 to operate as an auto transportation company for up to one hundred eighty days or pending a decision on a parallel filed auto transportation company certificate application.

"Temporary certificate authority" means the territory and services granted by the commission and described in an auto transportation company's temporary certificate.

"Ticket agent agreements" means a signed agreement between an auto transportation company and a second party in which the second party agrees, for compensation, to sell tickets to passengers on behalf of the auto transportation company. See WAC 480-30-391.

"Time schedule" means a document filed as part of an auto transportation company's tariff, or as a separate document, that lists the routes operated by the company including the times and locations at which passengers may receive service and any rules specific to operating those routes.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 80.01.040, 80.04.160, 80.54.020, and 80.54.060. WSR 16-02-076 (Docket TE-151080, General Order R-583), § 480-30-036, filed 1/4/16, effective 2/4/16. Statutory Authority: RCW 80.01.040, 81.04.160, 81.12.050, 81.68.030, and 81.70.270. WSR 06-13-006 (General Order No. R-533, Docket No. TC-020497), § 480-30-036, filed 6/8/06, effective 7/9/06.]

RCW 80.01.040, 80.04.160, 80.54.020, and 80.54.060. WSR 16-02-076 (Docket TE-151080, General Order R-583), § 480-30-036, filed 1/4/16, effective 2/4/16. Statutory Authority: RCW 80.01.040, 81.04.160, 81.12.050, 81.68.030, and 81.70.270. WSR 06-13-006 (General Order No. R-533, Docket No. TC-020497), § 480-30-036, filed 6/8/06, effective 7/9/06.

Rules

480-30-261,480-30-216,480-07-910,480-07-370,480-30-186,480-30-141,480-30-236,480-30-244,480-30-166,480-30-391,