Nevada transportation regulators OK rules

Friday, Dec. 18, 1998 | 11:52 a.m.

The Transportation Services Authority of Nevada has approved an 85-page document updating the state's regulation of buses, limousines and taxis outside of Clark County.

More than a year after the formation of the commission, the TSA established the rules by which it operates, getting into such gritty detail as to how certified vehicle licenses are to be displayed on vehicles to the four phrases airport shuttle operators can use when communicating with potential customers.

The regulations were approved over the objection of one company that sought a closer review of a section outlining the operation of free shuttle services by health-care providers.

Theodore Kurtz, an attorney for Medic Coach, a for-profit company that transports patients in non-emergency situations, is concerned that a free service from Sierra Health Services could undercut the company. Commissioners responded that Thursday was an inappropriate time for comments since public hearings already had been conducted on the rules.

The regulations adopted were an upgrade from old Public Utilities Commission documents. When that organization was split in 1997, the TSA operated under the old regulations until commissioners could devise their own rules.

Among the revisions in the rules that specify exactly what airport shuttle operators can say to potential customers. The rules say shuttle operators can't initiate conversation, shout, wave signs, arms or hands or use flashing lights, ringing bells or blowing horns. The phrases they can use: "May I help you," "Good morning," "Good afternoon" and "Good evening."

One critic remarked that the list of usable phrases may constitute words that would tend to initiate a conversation -- which would be illegal.

The new rules are scheduled to take effect gradually to prevent too great of a financial burden at one time, with compliance dates of March 1, May 1 and Aug. 1.