Setzer v. City of Pottsville
Setzer v. City of Pottsville
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The Public Service Commission, on September 21, 1916, issued to the plaintiff a certificate of public convenience authorizing him to operate, as a common carrier of passengers, a line of motor busses between the Borough of Minersville and the City of Pottsville, including a certain designated route in said city. He continued to operate said vehicles from the date of the certificate until June 3, 1919, when the city duly passed an ordinance designating certain streets on which interurban busses should be operated and forbidding such operation upon the other streets of the city. The enforcement of this ordinance would render it necessary to change a part of the route over which the plaintiff operated his line of vehicles within the limits of the city; in other words, the route designated by the' ordinance was, in some respects, different from that specified by
The plaintiff contends that it was not within the power of the city to enact an ordinance which would require him to operate his motor vehicles upon a ronte, within the city, different from that designated by the certificate of public convenience, issued by the Public Service Commission. He relies upon the Public Service Company Law, Act of July 26, 1913, P. L. 1374, and in his argument thus states his position: “The contention of the appellant is that the authority of the Public Service Commission is superior and its orders and regulations, conferring the privileges stated on the appellant, are binding alike upon him and the city.” This argument completely ignores the authority conferred upon the city by the Act of June 1, 1915, P. L. 685, the material part of which is as follows: “That each city may regulate the transportation by motor vehicles (not operated on tracks) of passengers or property, for pay, within the limits of the city, or from points in the city to points beyond the limits of the city. In such regulation the city may impose reasonable license fees, make regulations for the operation of vehicles, the rates to be charged for transportation, and may designate certain streets upon which such vehicles, if operated, must be operated.” This statute was enacted subsequently to the approval of the Public Service Company Law and if there is any conflict between them the later statute must, of course, prevail. We have, however, held that there is no conflict between the statutes, that they must be construed together: Scranton Railway Co. v. Fiorucci, 66 Pa. Superior Ct. 475. No individual or company has
The order of the court below dissolving the preliminary injunction is affirmed and the appeal dismissed at cost of the appellant.
Reference
- Cited By
- 10 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Municipalities — Police powers — Regulation of autobusses — Acts of July 86,1918, P. L. 181b, and June 1,1915, P. L. 685. Tbe Act of July 26, 1913, P. L. 1374 (Public Service Oompany Law) and the Act of June 1, 1915, P. L. 685, giving to cities the power to regulate and license certain motor vehicles, are not repugnant or inconsistent. The provisions of the two acts, so far as they relate to the same subject, are not irreconcilable and there is no express repeal in the latter act. An ordinance passed under the provisions of the Act of June 1, 1915, P. L. 685, designating certain streets on which interurban busses should be operated, and forbidding such operation upon other streets of the city, is not an unreasonable exercise of the power conferred in that act, nor does it conflict with the provisions of the Public Service Oompany Law. No individual or company has-the right to operate, as a common carrier, a motor vehicle for the transportation of persons and property without first obtaining from the Public Service Commission a. certificate of public convenience, but the authority to designate the city streets over which such motor vehicle shall operate is by the Act of 1915 vested in the municipality.