S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
4502
2011-2012 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
February 3, 2011
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SPANO, COOK, CASTRO, ROBINSON, STEVENSON --
Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. BOYLAND, FINCH, MAYERSOHN, PHEFFER,
TITONE, WEISENBERG -- read once and referred to the Committee on
Transportation
AN ACT to amend the transportation law and the vehicle and traffic law,
in relation to the regulation of ambulette motor vehicles and the
operators thereof
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Legislative findings. The legislature hereby finds that
non-emergency medical transportation is a vital part of the provision of
medical services in this state. The purpose of this act is to establish
uniform standards for the non-emergency medical transportation industry
throughout the state that ensure a consistent level of safety and quali-
ty.
S 2. The opening paragraph of subparagraph 1 of paragraph a of subdi-
vision 5 of section 80 of the transportation law, as amended by chapter
487 of the laws of 1993, is amended to read as follows:
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in any city with a popu-
lation of over one million, the commissioner shall not have jurisdiction
over the regulation of any van service or other common carrier of
passengers by motor vehicle covered under article seven of this chapter
when such van service or other such common carrier is operated wholly
within the boundaries of such city or is operated partly within such
city if the partial operation consists of the pick up and discharge of
passengers wholly within such city, when such city has adopted an ordi-
nance, local law or charter to regulate or franchise such operations;
provided, however, that the commissioner shall have exclusive jurisdic-
tion with respect to the safety of operation of motor vehicles operated
as van services or other such common carriers of passengers, except that
concurrent jurisdiction with respect to enforcement of such safety stan-
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07863-01-1
A. 4502 2
dards may be transferred pursuant to agreement between the department
and such city; and provided further that the commissioner shall have
exclusive jurisdiction with respect to van services [and], other such
common carriers AND MOTOR VEHICLES that are designed for the transport
of transportation disabled persons, as defined in section fifteen-b of
this chapter, [except that such city shall continue to have jurisdiction
over the licensure of wheelchair accessible vans and drivers of such
vans as provided in chapter five of title nineteen of the administrative
code of the city of New York] OR PERSONS IN NEED OF NON-EMERGENCY
MEDICAL TRANSPORTATION PURSUANT TO SECTION THREE HUNDRED SIXTY-FIVE-H OF
THE SOCIAL SERVICES LAW; and provided further that the commissioner
shall have exclusive jurisdiction with respect to the operations of
motor vehicles as van services or other such common carriers of passen-
gers covered under article seven of this chapter to or from an airport
in such city when such van services or other such common carriers of
passengers have been issued a permit by the port authority of New York
and New Jersey to operate at an airport in such city or apply for such
permit and within a reasonable period of time are issued such permit by
such authority. Such local law or ordinance shall:
S 3. Subparagraph (iv) of paragraph a of subdivision 2 of section 140
of the transportation law, as added by chapter 853 of the laws of 1992,
is amended to read as follows:
(iv) All van services or other common carriers of passengers by motor
vehicle covered under article seven of this chapter, which van services
or other such common carriers of passengers are operated pursuant to or
requiring regulatory authority from any city with a population of over
one million that has adopted an ordinance or local law pursuant to
subdivision five of section eighty of this chapter. NOTWITHSTANDING THE
REQUIREMENTS ABOVE THE COMMISSIONER SHALL HAVE THE POWER TO ADOPT RULES
AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE SAFETY OF OPERATIONS OF VAN SERVICES,
OTHER SUCH COMMON CARRIERS AND MOTOR VEHICLES THAT ARE DESIGNED FOR THE
TRANSPORTATION OF DISABLED PERSONS INCLUDING WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE VANS
OR PERSONS IN NEED OF NON-EMERGENCY MEDICAL TRANSPORTATION PURSUANT TO
SECTION THREE HUNDRED SIXTY-FIVE-H OF THE SOCIAL SERVICES LAW.
S 4. The transportation law is amended by adding a new section 160 to
read as follows:
S 160. ISSUANCE OF SPECIAL PERMITS FOR COMMON CARRIERS OF PASSENGERS
THAT ARE TRANSPORTATION DISABLED. 1. IN ADDITION TO THE OTHER PROVISIONS
OF THIS ARTICLE, NO PERSON SHALL ENGAGE IN THE TRANSPORTATION OF PASSEN-
GERS THAT ARE TRANSPORTATION DISABLED OR IN NEED OF NON-EMERGENCY
MEDICAL TRANSPORTATION PURSUANT TO SECTION THREE HUNDRED SIXTY-FIVE-H OF
THE SOCIAL SERVICES LAW IN A CITY WITH A POPULATION OF ONE MILLION OR
MORE, OR HOLD THEMSELVES OUT BY ADVERTISING, OR ANY OTHER MEANS TO
PROVIDE SUCH TRANSPORTATION, UNLESS THERE IS IN FORCE WITH RESPECT TO
SUCH PERSON OR PERSONS A SPECIAL CERTIFICATE ISSUED BY THE COMMISSIONER.
2. NO SPECIAL CERTIFICATE SHALL BE ISSUED BY THE COMMISSIONER UNLESS
THE PERSON OR PERSONS AGREE TO:
A. MAINTAIN AND STORE ELECTRONIC TRIP TICKET RECORDS WHICH CONTEMPORA-
NEOUSLY WITH THE TRIP CAPTURE PICK-UP AND DROP-OFF PASSENGER INFORMA-
TION;
B. VEHICLE AGE AND RETIREMENT REQUIREMENTS SUCH THAT VEHICLES
PRESENTED FOR INITIAL LICENSURE MUST HAVE BEEN DRIVEN NO MORE THAN FIFTY
THOUSAND MILES, REDUCING TO TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND MILES FOR VEHICLES
PRESENTED FOR INITIAL LICENSURE BEGINNING ON JANUARY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND
TWELVE, AND REDUCING TO FIVE HUNDRED MILES BEGINNING ON JANUARY FIRST,
TWO THOUSAND THIRTEEN. IN ADDITION, BEGINNING ON JANUARY FIRST, TWO
A. 4502 3
THOUSAND THIRTEEN, VEHICLES PRESENTED FOR INITIAL LICENSURE MUST BE OF
THE CURRENT OR IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING MODEL YEAR. VEHICLES MANUFACTURED
IN MODEL YEAR TWO THOUSAND TWO OR EARLIER MUST BE RETIRED FROM PARATRAN-
SIT SERVICE NO LATER THAN THE EXPIRATION OF THEIR VEHICLE LICENSE OCCUR-
RING NEXT AFTER JANUARY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND ELEVEN. VEHICLES FROM MODEL
YEAR TWO THOUSAND FOUR OR EARLIER MUST BE RETIRED NO LATER THAN THEIR
LICENSE EXPIRATION OCCURRING NEXT AFTER JANUARY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND
TWELVE. VEHICLES FROM MODEL YEAR TWO THOUSAND SIX OR EARLIER MUST BE
RETIRED NO LATER THAN THEIR LICENSE EXPIRATION OCCURRING NEXT AFTER
JANUARY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND THIRTEEN. BEGINNING ON JANUARY FIRST, TWO
THOUSAND FOURTEEN, ALL VEHICLES MUST BE RETIRED NO LATER THAN SEVEN
YEARS AFTER THE VEHICLE WAS FIRST LICENSED.
S 5. Subdivision 1 of section 509-a of the vehicle and traffic law,
as amended by chapter 853 of the laws of 1992, is amended to read as
follows:
(1) bus shall mean every motor vehicle, owned, leased, rented or
otherwise controlled by a motor carrier, which
(a) is a school bus as defined in section one hundred forty-two of
this chapter or has a seating capacity of more than ten adult passengers
in addition to the driver and which is used for the transportation of
persons under the age of twenty-one or persons of any age who are
mentally or physically disabled to a place of vocational, academic or
religious instruction or religious service including nursery schools,
day care centers and camps,
(b) is required to obtain approval to operate in the state as a common
or contract carrier of passengers by motor vehicle from the commissioner
of transportation, or the interstate commerce commission,
(c) is regulated as a bus line by a city that has adopted an ordi-
nance, local law or charter to regulate or franchise bus line operations
pursuant to subdivision four of section eighty of the transportation
law,
(d) is regulated as a van service or other common carrier of passen-
gers by motor vehicle covered under article seven of the transportation
law by a city with a population of over one million pursuant to an ordi-
nance or local law adopted pursuant to subdivision five of section
eighty of the transportation law [or],
(e) is operated by a transit authority or municipality and is used to
transport persons for hire, OR
(F) IS A MOTOR VEHICLE FOR THE TRANSPORTATION OF DISABLED PERSONS OR
PERSONS IN NEED OF NON-EMERGENCY MEDICAL TRANSPORTATION PURSUANT TO
SECTION THREE HUNDRED SIXTY-FIVE-H OF THE SOCIAL SERVICES LAW.
Provided, however, that bus shall not mean an authorized emergency
vehicle operated in the course of an emergency, or a motor vehicle used
in the transportation of agricultural workers to and from their place of
employment;
S 6. Subdivision 2 of section 509-d of the vehicle and traffic law, as
added by chapter 675 of the laws of 1985, paragraph (a) as amended by
chapter 164 of the laws of 2003, is amended to read as follows:
(2) Investigations and inquiries of drivers of [school] CERTAIN buses;
maintenance of file; availability to subsequent employer. (a) A motor
carrier shall request the department to initiate a criminal history
check for persons employed as drivers of school buses, as defined in
paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section five hundred nine-a of this
[chapter] ARTICLE, on September fourteenth, nineteen hundred eighty-five
by such motor carrier, in accordance with regulations of the commission-
er by requiring such school bus drivers to submit to the mandated fing-
A. 4502 4
erprinting procedure. The department [of motor vehicles] at the request
of the motor carrier shall initiate a criminal history check of all
current school bus drivers of such motor carrier as well as those hired
on or after September fifteenth, nineteen hundred eighty-five by requir-
ing such drivers and applicants to submit to the mandated fingerprinting
procedure as part of the school bus driver qualification procedure. Such
fingerprinting procedure and the related fee as well as a procedure for
the return of such fingerprints upon application of a person who has
terminated employment as a school bus driver shall be established in
accordance with regulations of the commissioner in consultation with the
commissioner of [the division of] criminal justice services. The fee to
be paid by or on behalf of the school bus driver or applicant shall be
no more than five dollars over the cost to the commissioner for the
criminal history check. No cause of action against the department, the
division of criminal justice services, a motor carrier or political
subdivision for damages related to the dissemination of criminal history
records pursuant to this section shall exist when such department, divi-
sion, motor carrier or political subdivision has reasonably and in good
faith relied upon the accuracy and completeness of criminal history
information furnished to it by qualified agencies. Fingerprints submit-
ted to the division of criminal justice services pursuant to this subdi-
vision may also be submitted to the federal bureau of investigation for
a national criminal history record check.
(b) A MOTOR CARRIER SHALL REQUEST THE DEPARTMENT TO INITIATE A CRIMI-
NAL HISTORY CHECK FOR PERSONS EMPLOYED AS DRIVERS OF MOTOR VEHICLES USED
FOR THE TRANSPORTATION OF DISABLED PERSONS OR PERSONS IN NEED OF NON-EM-
ERGENCY MEDICAL TRANSPORTATION, AS PROVIDED IN SECTION THREE HUNDRED
SIXTY-FIVE-H OF THE SOCIAL SERVICES LAW, IN ACCORDANCE WITH REGULATIONS
OF THE COMMISSIONER BY REQUIRING SUCH DRIVERS TO SUBMIT TO THE MANDATED
FINGERPRINTING PROCEDURE. THE DEPARTMENT AT THE REQUEST OF THE MOTOR
CARRIER SHALL INITIATE A CRIMINAL HISTORY CHECK OF ALL SUCH CURRENT
DRIVERS OF SUCH MOTOR CARRIER BY REQUIRING SUCH DRIVERS AND APPLICANTS
TO SUBMIT TO THE MANDATED FINGERPRINTING PROCEDURE AS PART OF THE DRIVER
QUALIFICATION PROCEDURE. SUCH FINGERPRINTING PROCEDURE AND THE RELATED
FEE AS WELL AS A PROCEDURE FOR THE RETURN OF SUCH FINGERPRINTS UPON
APPLICATION OF A PERSON WHO HAS TERMINATED EMPLOYMENT AS SUCH A DRIVER
SHALL BE ESTABLISHED IN ACCORDANCE WITH REGULATIONS OF THE COMMISSIONER
IN CONSULTATION WITH THE COMMISSIONER OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SERVICES. THE
FEE TO BE PAID BY OR ON BEHALF OF THE DRIVER OR APPLICANT SHALL BE NO
MORE THAN FIVE DOLLARS OVER THE COST TO THE COMMISSIONER FOR THE CRIMI-
NAL HISTORY CHECK. NO CAUSE OF ACTION AGAINST THE DEPARTMENT, THE DIVI-
SION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SERVICES, A MOTOR CARRIER OR POLITICAL SUBDIVI-
SION FOR DAMAGES RELATED TO THE DISSEMINATION OF CRIMINAL HISTORY
RECORDS PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION SHALL EXIST WHEN SUCH DEPARTMENT, DIVI-
SION, MOTOR CARRIER OR POLITICAL SUBDIVISION HAS REASONABLY AND IN GOOD
FAITH RELIED UPON THE ACCURACY AND COMPLETENESS OF CRIMINAL HISTORY
INFORMATION FURNISHED TO IT BY QUALIFIED AGENCIES. FINGERPRINTS SUBMIT-
TED TO THE DIVISION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SERVICES PURSUANT TO THIS SUBDI-
VISION MAY ALSO BE SUBMITTED TO THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION FOR
A NATIONAL CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD CHECK.
(C) After a motor carrier has completed the procedures set forth in
EITHER paragraph (a) OR (B) OF this [of] subdivision, it shall designate
each new [school] bus driver as a conditional [school] bus driver [as
defined in section five hundred nine-h of this article], until the
carrier is in receipt of information of the new [school] bus driver's
qualification from the department and the required driving records from
A. 4502 5
each appropriate state agency. If the information received indicates
that there is a pending criminal offense or driving violation that would
require disqualification of a [school] bus driver under this article,
the motor carrier shall require the applicant to provide documentation
evidencing the disposition of such offense or violation in accordance
with regulations established by the commissioner. The department, upon
notice of disqualification to an applicant, shall include in such notice
information regarding the applicant's right to appeal and contest any
claimed ground for disqualification. Such notice shall also advise the
applicant of his or her right to obtain, examine, inspect and copy any
information used by the department in support of its determination of
disqualification. In the event the applicant contests the existence of a
criminal conviction in his or her name, such applicant may provide
documentation evidencing the disposition of such offense or violation in
accordance with regulations established by the commissioner.
S 7. Section 509-h of the vehicle and traffic law, as amended by chap-
ter 675 of the laws of 1985, is amended to read as follows:
S 509-h. Operation by person not licensed to drive a bus. The motor
carrier shall not knowingly permit any person to operate a bus carrying
passengers unless the driver meets all of the requirements of this arti-
cle; except that a motor carrier may permit a conditional [school] bus
driver who is not otherwise disqualified under the provisions of this
article to operate a bus for a period not to exceed ninety days or a
longer period if granted a written extension of such ninety day period
by the department pursuant to regulations established by the commission-
er. Such regulation shall authorize extension for at least that period
of time necessary to review information regarding the prior criminal
history of the applicant.
S 8. Section 509-l of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding
a new subdivision 3 to read as follows:
3. A MOTOR CARRIER SHALL REQUIRE EVERY PERSON EMPLOYED AS THE DRIVER
OF A BUS, AS DEFINED IN PARAGRAPH (A) OR (F) OF SUBDIVISION ONE OF
SECTION FIVE HUNDRED NINE-A OF THIS ARTICLE, TO SUBMIT TO DRUG TESTING
AT THE EXPENSE OF SUCH MOTOR CARRIER IN ACCORDANCE WITH REGULATIONS
PROMULGATED BY THE COMMISSIONER. ALL SUCH DRIVERS SHALL SUBMIT TO DRUG
TESTING UPON BEING HIRED AND NOT LESS OFTEN THAN ONCE EACH YEAR THERE-
AFTER. ANY DRIVER WHO TESTS POSITIVE FOR A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE OR ALCO-
HOLIC BEVERAGE SHALL NOT BE PERMITTED TO OPERATE SUCH A BUS. THE DRUG
TEST SHALL BE ADMINISTERED BY A PERSON OR ENTITY HOLDING THE REQUISITE
PERMIT FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. IN THE EVENT THE BUS DRIVER
CONTESTS THE RESULTS OF THE DRUG TEST, THE MOTOR CARRIER SHALL ALLOW THE
DRIVER TO PROVIDE ONE ADDITIONAL SAMPLE FOR TESTING AT SUCH DRIVER'S
EXPENSE.
S 9. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
have become a law.