Surface Transportation Practice: Bus Industry

Surface Transportation

Surface Transportation
Practice Areas

Bus Industry
Motor Carriers
Other Transportation Issues
Railroads
Surface Transportation Litigation

Bus Industry

Administrative

The firm has litigated a variety of industry issues before the Surface Transportation Board and its predecessor, the Interstate Commerce Commission, including terminal licensing agreements, honoring of tickets, interline commissions, reservations systems and publication of schedules.

We also make regulatory filings at the Surface Transportation Board and the Department of Transportation on a variety of commercial and safety regulatory issues. We have also successfully challenged in federal court the Department of Transportation's final rules for over-the-road buses under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Tax Litigation

Our lawyers filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in a case involving apportionment of ticket taxes for interstate bus travel. When the Court issued an unfavorable ruling in Oklahoma Tax Com'n v. Jefferson Lines, Inc., 514 U.S. 175 (1995), we persuaded Congress to enact legislation overturning that decision and limiting the ability of states to tax interstate transportation of passengers by bus. 49 U.S.C. §14505. We also regularly advise bus companies on the validity of state taxes under federal statutory and constitutional principles, including a recent successful challenge to a District of Columbia bus licensing fee.

Terminal Agreements

Attorneys in our firm negotiated a nationwide agreement with Greyhound Lines, Inc. on behalf of forty regional bus companies for bus terminal services and fees.