A. The commission may issue a certificate for a passenger service as follows:

(1) a certificate for an ambulance service;

(2) a certificate for a shuttle service shall be endorsed for nature of service as a scheduled shuttle service or as a general shuttle service;

(3) a certificate for a specialized passenger service shall be endorsed for nature of service as provided by commission rule; and

(4) a certificate for a taxicab service shall be endorsed for nature of service as a municipal taxicab service or as a general taxicab service.

B. Except as provided in this section and in Section 65-2A-13 NMSA 1978, the commission shall issue a certificate allowing a person to provide passenger service after notice and public hearing requirements are met, if:

(1) the applicant is fit and able to provide the transportation service to be authorized by the certificate;

(2) the applicant is in compliance with the safety and financial responsibility requirements of the Motor Carrier Act, the rules of the commission and other applicable federal and state laws and rules;

(3) for an application for ambulance service, the transportation service to be provided under the certificate is or will serve a useful public purpose that is responsive to a public demand or need; and

(4) the applicant has filed a tariff as provided in Section 65-2A-20 NMSA 1978.

C. Before granting a certificate for passenger service, the commission shall consider any objections or protests that were filed within the notice period.

D. Before granting a certificate for ambulance service, the commission shall also consider the effect that issuance of the certificate would have on existing ambulance service in the territory.

E. A certificate issued by the commission for provision of passenger service shall contain one or more endorsements, each of which shall specify the:

(1) nature of service to be rendered;

(2) territory authorized to be served; and

(3) reasonable terms of service as the commission may allow or require for the particular certificate.

F. Territorial endorsements to a certificate for passenger service shall:

(1) be limited to territory sought in the application that will be served in a reasonably continuous and adequate manner beginning within thirty days of the issuance of the certificate or such other definite period or date as the commission may provide for a particular application and shall generally be authorized on the basis of county or incorporated municipal boundaries, subject to other specification reasonably allowed or required by the commission;

(2) except for shuttle services, authorize transportation between points and places within the specified territory, and from points and places within the specified territory to all points and places in the state and return, unless otherwise expressly allowed or specified in the terms of service in the endorsement to the certificate; and

(3) for shuttle services, provide for transportation between two or more specified end or intermediate terminal points or areas, and authorize pick-up or drop-off of passengers throughout a terminal area, but shall not authorize transportation between points and places within a single terminal area or the provision of transportation services in any other areas of the state.

History: Laws 2003, ch. 359, § 8; 2013, ch. 73, § 7; 2013, ch. 77, § 7.

The 2013 amendment, effective July 1, 2013, clarified and simplified procedures for issuance of certificates for passenger service; in the title, deleted "intrastate common motor carrier of persons" and added "passenger service"; in Subsection A, deleted the former first sentence which required a carrier of persons to obtain a certificate for intrastate transportation and added the first sentence, and added Paragraphs (1) through (4); in Subsection B, after "this section", added "and in Section 65-2A-13 NMSA 1978", and after "person to provide", deleted "compensated intrastate transportation as a common motor carrier of persons" and added "passenger service"; in Paragraph (1) of Subsection B, deleted "person" and added "applicant", and after "fit", deleted "willing"; in Paragraph (2) of Subsection B, deleted "person" and added "applicant"; in Paragraph (3) of Subsection B, at the beginning of the sentence, added "for an application for ambulance service"; added Paragraph (4) of Subsection B; in Subsection C, after "certificate", deleted "to an intrastate common motor carrier of persons" and added "for passenger service" and after "consider", added the remainder of the sentence; in Subsection D, at the beginning of the sentence, added "Before granting a certificate for ambulance service, the commission shall also consider" and after "existing", deleted "motor carriers; provided that the commission shall not find diversion of revenue or traffic from an existing motor carrier to be, in and of itself, sufficient grounds for denying the certificate" and added "ambulance service in the territory"; in Subsection E, after "commission", deleted "to an intrastate common motor carrier of persons" and added "for provision of passenger service", after "passenger service shall", added "contain one or more endorsements, each of which shall", in Paragraph (1), at the beginning of the sentence, added "nature of", in Paragraph (2), after "territory", added "authorized", in Paragraph (3), after "terms", deleted "conditions and limitations" and added "of service", after "terms of service as the", deleted "public convenience and necessity" and added "commission", after "commission may", added "allow or", after "require", deleted "and, if necessary", and deleted former Subparagraphs (a) and (b) which authorized the commission to specify in a certificate the terminals between service and the routes and schedules of service, and added "for the particular certificate"; and added Subsection F.

Laws 2013, ch. 73, § 7 and Laws 2013, ch. 77, § 6, both effective July 1, 2013, enacted identical amendments to this section. The section was set out as amended by Laws 2013, ch. 77, § 7. See 12-1-8 NMSA 1978.

Sufficient evidence to support finding that applicant is fit and able to provide transportation services. — Where new taxicab company applied to the New Mexico public regulation commission (PRC) for a certificate to provide general taxicab services within Bernalillo county, and where the applicant taxicab company had undertaken a course of action to get each regulatory requirement met, had utilized legal services to compensate for the language barrier, had met all requirements for certification and was compliant with state law and compliant with the statutory fitness requirements, there was substantial evidence to support the PRC's determination of the applicant taxicab company's fitness to operate. Albuquerque Cab Co. v. N.M. Pub. Regulation Comm'n, 2017-NMSC-028.

Failure to show financial fitness to provide service. — Where the applicant for a permanent certificate of authority to provide ambulance services significantly overstated its assets, submitted a balance sheet that overstated the applicant's cash on hand by almost $30,000, neglected to mention two lawsuits for non-payment of significant amounts against it, failed to list its hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax delinquencies, and failed to pay federal and state taxes in the past and accrued significant liabilities, the public regulation commission's holding that the applicant satisfied the financial requirement for issuance of a certificate and that the applicant was fit, willing and able to provide services was arbitrary and capricious and an abuse of discretion. Bernalillo Co. Health Care Corp. v. N.M. Pub. Regulation Comm'n, 2014-NMSC-008.

Failure to comply with laws and regulations. — Where the applicant for a permanent certificate of authority to provide ambulance services failed to pay its gross receipts tax; violated public regulation commission regulations by providing false statements regarding its balance sheets, failing to have a consultant pharmacist, billing at rates other than its tariff rate for scheduled transports, and operating without appropriate authority from the commission; and made false representations on its website that offered special services the applicant was not qualified to provide, the commission's ruling that the applicant had complied with state and federal regulations was arbitrary and capricious. Bernalillo Co. Health Care Corp. v. N.M. Pub. Regulation Comm'n, 2014-NMSC-008.

A public hearing is required upon the filing of a protest. — Where a cab company filed an application for a certificate of authority to provide taxi services in an area in which appellants were doing business; appellants filed a protest and motion to intervene; a public regulation commission regulation required that before intervention could be allowed, appellants were required to provide the commission with facts and details that supported their protest; a hearing officer appointed by the commission denied appellants' motion to intervene without a hearing and allowed commission staff to process the application as an uncontested matter; and the commission granted the applicant a certificate of authority without ever holding a public hearing, the commission's regulation imposed a greater burden on interested parties who seek to protest at a public hearing than the burden established by the Motor Carrier Act and the commission acted outside its grant of statutory authority by treating the matter as an uncontested matter because a public hearing must be held upon the filing of a protest, it does not turn on the grant of a party's status as an intervenor. Albuquerque Cab Co. v. N.M. Pub. Regulation Comm'n, 2014-NMSC-004.