March 21, 2013, Introduced by Reps. Olumba, McMillin, Howrylak and Yonker and referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
A bill to prohibit a municipality from prohibiting or imposing
certain regulations or conditions on the operation of jitneys; and
to impose certain requirements for the operator of a jitney.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1. As used in this act:
(a) "Jitney" means a privately owned, shared ride service
using a vehicle with a manufacturer's designed seating capacity of
12 passengers or fewer, including the driver, traveling a semifixed
route at least once per week. Jitney does not include either of the
following:
(i) A limousine to which the limousine transportation act, 1990
PA 271, MCL 257.1901 to 257.1939, applies.
(ii) A vehicle that provides a trip to an individual or a group
of individuals if 1 or both of the following conditions are
satisfied:
(A) The trip requires more than a 2-mile deviation from the
published route.
(B) There is a formal or informal contractual agreement
between the provider and the passenger to provide the trip from a
defined origin to a defined destination at a specific time.
(b) "Municipality" means a county, village, city, or township,
or a subdivision or instrumentality of a county, village, city, or
township.
(c) "Semifixed route" means a system of providing passenger
transportation to individuals in which a vehicle is operated along
a published route and within a published schedule, regardless of
whether there are predetermined stops along the route, but may
deviate from the route and schedule on an as-needed basis to meet
the needs of individual passengers, and that satisfies 1 or both of
the following:
(i) The route is within 1 mile of a major road or highway that
is 4 or more lanes in width.
(ii) The route is within 2 miles of a grocery store. As used in
this subparagraph, "grocery store" means a retail grocery as that
term is defined in section 1111 of the food law, 2000 PA 92, MCL
289.1111.
Sec. 2. A municipality shall not do any of the following:
(a) Prohibit the operation or use of a jitney.
(b) Require a jitney to observe safety regulations that do not
apply to other privately owned vehicles.
(c) Require a jitney to purchase a franchise or surety bond.
(d) Regulate the prices, hours of operation, or route of a
jitney.
Sec. 3. A person shall not operate a jitney unless he or she
is licensed as a chauffeur under the Michigan vehicle code, 1949 PA
300, MCL 257.1 to 257.923.