Can a New York town license and regulate vans used as taxicabs that operate within its borders, given that the State has centralized regulation of common carriers under the Department of Transportation?

Subject

Whether a municipality may license and regulate vans used as taxicabs operating within its boundaries, given the 1983 transportation deregulation that centralized common-carrier regulation at the State Department of Transportation.

Source

• Landing page: https://ag.ny.gov/libraries-documents/opinions/opinions-year
• Original PDF: https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/opinions/I_96-39_pw.pdf

Plain-English summary

The Town of Islip had a broad taxicab ordinance defining a taxicab as essentially any vehicle transporting persons for hire other than vehicles subject to the Public Service or Transportation Corporations Laws and a few specific exclusions like weddings and funerals. The town wanted to know whether it could license vans operating as taxicabs within the township.

The AG walked through the 1983 transportation reform (L 1983 Ch 635), which gave the State DOT broad power over intrastate common and contract carriers. Under that scheme, municipalities can only regulate carrier services that fall within the exceptions listed in Transportation Law § 151. The eleventh exception is the relevant one: it lets a city, town, or village regulate "taxi or livery service" in vehicles seating 20 or fewer when the service is conducted wholly within the municipality on a prearranged or demand-response basis with passenger-chosen pickup and discharge points. That exception is broad enough to include vans, so long as they are being used for true taxi or livery service.

But § 151(11) specifically excludes "van service" from the local-regulation exception, and § 2(35) defines van service as common-carrier service "on a prearranged regular daily basis between a zone in a residential neighborhood" and a work, transit, shopping, or recreational location. That kind of fixed-zone-to-zone commuter operation stays under DOT jurisdiction. The line, in the AG's words, turns on "whether a van is used primarily to transport passengers on a prearranged regular daily basis from zone to zone, or whether it is used to conduct traditional taxi or livery services" within the municipality.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1996. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

What is the difference between a taxi and a van service, legally?
A taxi or livery service picks up and drops off at locations chosen by the passenger and runs on demand or by individual prearrangement, with no fixed daily route. A van service, as defined in Transportation Law § 2(35), runs on a prearranged regular daily basis between a residential-zone area and a work, transit, shopping, or recreational destination. The State Legislature treated those as different products: passenger-controlled service that may be locally regulated, and zone-to-zone scheduled commuter service that stays under State jurisdiction.

Why did the State pull common-carrier regulation up to DOT in 1983?
The bill jacket and the resulting statutes describe the 1983 deregulation as aimed at facilitating market entry and stimulating competition by centralizing licensing under the State DOT. Articles 3 and 7 of the Transportation Law now invest the State DOT with broad power to regulate intrastate common and contract carriers (Transportation Law §§ 80(1), 150 et seq.). The municipality-friendly carve-out in § 151 was the price for keeping traditional local taxicab regulation intact.

Did the vehicle type matter to the AG?
No, only the service type. Section 151's vehicle list spans sedans, station wagons, and "vehicles larger than sedans or station wagons", which the AG read to include vans. So a taxicab regulation can reach vans being used as taxis even though sedans are the historic taxi vehicle.

Could Islip require van taxicab drivers to obtain a town license?
Yes, where the vans are operating as taxicabs entirely within Islip. That is the core of the § 151(11) exception. The town's existing § 49-1 definition of "taxicab" was already broad enough to encompass these vans, so the licensing scheme could apply.

Could Islip license airport shuttles or commuter vans?
No. Those typically operate either across municipal boundaries or on the kind of fixed schedule that meets the § 2(35) definition of van service, which remains the State DOT's territory.

Background and statutory framework

Before 1983, New York's regulation of motor-carrier transportation for hire was a patchwork. The 1983 transportation deregulation (L 1983 Ch 635) consolidated authority over intrastate common and contract carriers at the State DOT and trimmed back municipal regulation of carriers other than traditional taxi and livery operations.

Transportation Law § 151 sets out the boundaries of municipal authority. The section opens by declaring that "the provisions of this article" (Article 7, governing motor carriers) do not apply to certain identified categories of transportation for compensation. Among those categories is § 151(11), which preserves city, town, and village jurisdiction over taxi or livery service in small vehicles operating wholly within the municipality. The statute's exclusion of "van service" from § 151(11) is paired with the § 2(35) definition that fixes van service as a particular zone-to-zone, prearranged daily-commute model.

The AG had previously noted that municipal regulation in this space rises and falls with the § 151 exceptions; a regulation that reaches beyond the exception is preempted by the State scheme. The 1996 opinion applied that framework to the modern question of vans being used as taxis, which had become a common pattern in suburban areas like the Town of Islip.

Citations

• Islip Town Code § 49-1 (1977) (broad definition of "taxicab")
• Transportation Law § 2(35) (definition of "van service")
• Transportation Law § 80(1) (DOT authority over common carriers)
• Transportation Law §§ 150 et seq. (motor-carrier regulation, Article 7)
• Transportation Law § 151 (exceptions for locally regulated service)
• Transportation Law § 151(11) (taxi/livery service exception)
• L 1983 Ch 635 (1983 transportation deregulation)

Original opinion text

ISLIP TOWN CODE (1977) § 49-1; TRANSPORTATION LAW, ART 3, 7, 14,
§§ 2(35), 80(1), 150, 151; L 1983 Ch 635.
Although a municipality may not regulate van services, it is authorized to regulate vans used as taxicabs
when the taxicab services are provided wholly within its boundaries.
October 22, 1996
Vincent J. Messina, Jr., Esq.
Town Attorney
Town of Islip
Town Hall
Islip, NY 11751

Informal Opinion
No. 96-39

Dear Mr. Messina:
You ask whether a municipality may license and regulate vans used as taxicabs which are operating
within its boundaries.
Your town code regulates taxicab service and defines a taxicab as

[a]ny motor vehicle engaged in the business of transporting persons for hire, except vehicles
subject to the provisions of the Public Service or Transportation Corporations Laws or
vehicles under an express written contract to provide transportation for weddings, funerals
or similar functions.

Islip Town Code § 49-1 (1977). This broad definition provides for the licensing and regulation of
taxicabs operating within the boundaries of the township of Islip.
In 1983, the State Legislature enacted a series of regulatory reforms of the intrastate transportation
industry. L 1983 Ch 635. These reforms were designed to facilitate market entry and stimulate
competition by centralizing licensing and regulation of most common carriers under the jurisdiction of
the State Department of Transportation (DOT). See, Bill Jacket, L 1983 Ch 635; see also, Transportation
Law § 80. As a result, revised Articles 3 and 7 of the Transportation Law now invest the State DOT with
broad power to regulate intrastate common and contract carriers. Transportation Law §§ 80(1), 150, et
seq. Under the revised Transportation Law, municipalities may only regulate those common carrier
services included in one of the exceptions listed in Transportation Law § 151.
Regarding municipal regulation of taxicab services, note that section 151 states, in pertinent part:

The provisions of this article shall not apply to any transportation for compensation in
sedans, as such term is defined herein at the end of this section, or station wagons or to any
transportation for compensation that is provided in vehicles larger than sedans or station
wagons when that transportation is performed:
. . .

11. As a taxi or livery service conducted in vehicles having a seating capacity of twenty
    passengers or less pursuant to the jurisdiction or regulatory control of a city, town or village
    when service is conducted wholly within such city, town or village and when such service is
    available to the general public on a prearranged or demand-response basis over a
    non-specified or irregular route with the point or points of pick-up and discharge determined
    by the passenger, but such taxi or livery service shall not include van service.
    For the purposes of this article, the term "sedan" or "sedans" as used herein shall include
    private passenger automobiles larger than a conventional sedan and commonly known as a
    limousine, but shall not include vans or buses.

Transportation Law § 151. (Emphasis added.)

Therefore, the language of section 151 authorizes a municipality to regulate certain "transportation for
compensation" in sedans, station wagons and "in vehicles larger than sedans or station wagons". This
last phrase would include vans. One type of "transportation for compensation" that municipalities may
regulate is taxi or livery services. Transportation Law § 151(11). Under this provision, a municipality
may locally regulate taxi services in the vehicles described above, which includes vans, provided such
service is conducted wholly within its boundaries.
It should be noted, however, that Transportation Law § 151(11) reserves to the State DOT the authority
to regulate "van service". See also, Transportation Law § 80. That service is distinguishable from a
municipality's ability to regulate vans used as taxicabs. The Transportation Law defines "van service"
as:

a sub-classification of common carrier of passengers by motor vehicle that provides service
on a prearranged regular daily basis between a zone in a residential neighborhood and a
location which shall be a work related central location, a mass transit or mass transportation
facility, a shopping center or recreational facility, but shall not include service to or from an
airport. Such service is usually characterized by the use of vehicles having a seating capacity
of twenty passengers or less.

Transportation Law § 2(35).
Reading sections 151(11) and 2(35) of the Transportation Law together, it is clear that the Legislature
intended to distinguish between the operation of a "van service" and the operation of a van taxi. For the
purposes of your inquiry, the primary point of distinction is whether a van is used primarily to transport
passengers on a prearranged regular daily basis from zone to zone, or whether it is used to conduct
traditional taxi or livery services within the boundaries of a city, town or village. The former is a van
service, regulated by the DOT, while the latter is a taxi service, which may be regulated by local law or
ordinance.
We conclude that although a municipality may not regulate van services, it is authorized to regulate vans
used as taxicabs where such taxicab services are provided wholly within its boundaries.
The Attorney General renders formal opinions only to officers and departments of State government.
This perforce is an informal and unofficial expression of the views of this office.
Very truly yours,

JOSEPH CONWAY
Assistant Attorney General