BILL NUMBER:S6627

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the transportation law, in relation to
issuance of temporary authority

PURPOSE:

This bill requires the department of transportation to provide
carriers with adequate notice of the filing of an application for
temporary authority or emergency temporary authority.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill adds a new subdivision 10 to section 153 of the
transportation law. The new subdivision requires certain applications
for temporary authority to be submitted to the department of
transportation in a timely manner and requires the department to
provide adequate notice to carriers.

Section 2 of the bill is the effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:

In 2013, the Professional Golf Association (PGA) held its PGA
Championship in Rochester, NY. The event was a success for upstate
businesses and communities generating a $102 million economic impact
              

and drawing 225,000 spectators with visitors coming from as far as 100
miles away.

With respect to transportation services for the tournament, most of
the services were provided by an out-of-state transportation vendor
that had to apply to the Department of Transportation (DOT) for
emergency temporary authority in order to provide the services. Under
current law, emergency temporary authority can be applied for just
three days prior to the start of an event.

Although the dates of the PGA Championship were scheduled well in
advance, the out-of-state transportation vendor still applied for
temporary authority on an emergency basis. This creates two problems.
First, the short timeframe can compromise the DOT's ability to conduct
its review of the applicant to make sure that the applicant (i) is
ready and able to provide the services, (ii) has the proper
insurances, and (iii) has vehicles that meet NYS inspection standards.
Second, it effectively precludes other carriers from pursuing the
business opportunity to provide transportation services at the event.

In the case of the PGA Championship in Rochester, local in-state
carriers had fleets available and could have fulfilled the need for
transportation services on the dates of the tournament, but because of
the emergency nature of the temporary authority, these local carriers
were unaware of the PGA's needs for the event. This effectively
precluded local in-state carriers from trying to obtain the
transportation business for the PGA tournament.

This bill addresses the flaws in the current system for DOT issuance
of temporary authority as applied to specific events scheduled within
the State.


First, the legislation requires applications for specific events to be
submitted to DOT at least 90 days prior to the start of the event
(unless it is impossible for the applicant to meet the 90-day
deadline).  Secondly, this bill requires DOT to provide notice to
carriers when such an application is submitted. By providing this
notice, other carriers will be made aware of the transportation needs
in the local area and, consequently, will have a better opportunity to
compete for the needed transportation services.

Had these common-sense provisions been in place at the time of the PGA
Championship in Rochester, more local carriers would have benefitted
from the tournament and the local economic impact of the tournament
could have been even greater.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This act shall take effect on the 90th day after it shall have become
a law.