Section 19-504.2. Authorization to operate a commuter van service

a. No
  person shall operate a commuter van service wholly within the boundaries
  of the city or partly within the city if the partial operation  consists
  of  the  pick  up  and  discharge  of  passengers wholly within the city
  without first obtaining authorization from the commission.
    b. The commission shall not issue or renew an authorization to operate
  a commuter  van  service  unless  the  following  conditions  have  been
  satisfied:
    (1)  the  commission determines that the applicant is fit, willing and
  able to provide the transportation for which authorization is sought;
    (2) the applicant is in compliance  with  the  provisions  of  section
  19-504.3  of  this  chapter,  and  the  applicant has not engaged in any
  conduct that would be a basis  for  suspension  or  revocation  of  such
  authorization pursuant to rules promulgated by the commission; and
    (3)  the applicant has satisfied such other criteria as the commission
  deems to be in the interest of the safety and convenience of the  public
  and necessary to effectuate the purposes of this chapter.
    c.  Prior  to the issuance or renewal of an authorization to operate a
  commuter van service, the  applicant  shall  be  fingerprinted  for  the
  purpose  of securing criminal history records from the state division of
  criminal justice services. The applicant shall pay  any  processing  fee
  required   by   the   state   division  of  criminal  justice  services.
  Fingerprints shall be taken of the individual owner if the applicant  is
  a  sole  proprietorship;  the  general  partners  if  the applicant is a
  partnership; the officers, principals, and stockholders owning more than
  ten percent of the outstanding stock of the corporation if the applicant
  is a corporation.
    d. An application for an  authorization  to  operate  a  commuter  van
  service  or  for  renewal thereof shall be made to the commission in the
  form and manner prescribed by the commission.
    e. (1) The applicant shall have the burden of demonstrating  that  the
  service  proposed  will  be  required  by  the  present or future public
  convenience  and  necessity.  The  commission   shall   not   issue   an
  authorization  to operate a commuter van service unless the commissioner
  of transportation determines that the service proposed will be  required
  by  the  present  or  future  public  convenience  and  necessity.  Such
  determination that the service proposed will be required by the  present
  or  future  public  convenience and necessity shall be in effect for six
  years after the date of issuance  of  such  authorization,  unless  such
  authorization has not been renewed or has been revoked by the commission
  prior   to   the  end  of  such  six-year  period  in  which  case  such
  determination shall be in effect only until the expiration or revocation
  of such authorization.  After  the  expiration  or  revocation  of  such
  determination  of  public convenience and necessity, no authorization to
  operate  a  commuter  van  service  shall  be  renewed  unless   a   new
  determination  is  made  by  the commissioner of transportation that the
  service proposed will be  required  by  the  present  or  future  public
  convenience and necessity.
    (2) When such a determination by the commissioner of transportation is
  required  by  this  subdivision,  the  application  for authorization to
  operate a commuter van service  shall  set  forth  the  geographic  area
  proposed  to  be  served  by  the  applicant  and  the maximum number of
  vehicles to be operated and the capacity of each such vehicle,  and  the
  commission  shall forward a copy of such application to the commissioner
  of transportation.
    (3) The commissioner of transportation, after  consultation  with  the
  state  department  of transportation, shall make a determination whether
  the service proposed in the application will be required by the  present

  or   future  public  convenience  and  necessity.  The  commissioner  of
  transportation may request that the  applicant  provide  any  additional
  information   relevant   to  such  determination.  The  commissioner  of
  transportation  shall notify the New York city transit authority and all
  council members and community boards representing  any  portion  of  the
  geographic  area  set  forth  in  the  application  for  the  purpose of
  obtaining comment on  the  present  or  future  public  convenience  and
  necessity  for  any proposed service. The commissioner of transportation
  shall provide for publication in the City Record of a notice of any such
  application and shall allow for public comment on such application for a
  period not to exceed sixty days after the date of  publication  of  such
  notice.  If any such application is protested by a bus line operating in
  the city or by the New York city transit authority, and  such  bus  line
  and/or   transit  authority  has  timely  submitted  objections  to  the
  application to the  commissioner  of  transportation,  the  commissioner
  shall,  in  making  such  determination,  evaluate  such  objections  in
  accordance with the following criteria:
    (a) the adequacy of the existing mass transit and mass  transportation
  facilities to meet the transportation needs of any particular segment of
  the general public for the proposed service; and
    (b)  the  impact  that the proposed operation may have on any existing
  mass transit or mass transportation facilities.
    Any determination by the commissioner that a service proposed will  be
  required by the present or future public convenience and necessity shall
  specify  the  geographic area where service is authorized and the number
  of commuter vans authorized to be used in providing such service.
    f. (1) The commission, after consultation with the state department of
  transportation,  shall  approve  or  disapprove  such  application   for
  authorization  to  operate  a  commuter  van  service within one hundred
  eighty days after the date a completed application has been  filed.  The
  failure  to approve or disapprove such completed application within such
  one hundred eighty day period shall be  deemed  a  disapproval  of  such
  application.
    (2)  Any determination by the commission to approve an application for
  authorization to operate a commuter van service pursuant to this section
  shall be in writing and shall be submitted to the  council  within  five
  days  of  such  determination  being  made.  Within  twenty days of such
  submission the council may adopt a resolution by majority  vote  of  all
  council members to review that determination.
    (3)  Within thirty days of the adoption of the council of a resolution
  pursuant to this subdivision, the  council  may  act  by  local  law  to
  approve  or disapprove the determination of the commission. In the event
  that the council fails to act by local law within the thirty day  period
  provided for in this paragraph the determination of the commission shall
  remain in effect.
    g.  An authorization to operate a commuter van service shall be issued
  for a term of not less than one nor more than two years and shall expire
  on the date set forth in such authorization unless sooner  suspended  or
  revoked by the commission.
    h. The commission shall not issue a temporary authorization to operate
  a  commuter  van  service.  An  authorization  to operate a commuter van
  service shall  not  be  assignable  or  transferable,  unless  otherwise
  provided by the commission.
    i.  In  the  event  of  the  loss,  mutilation  or  destruction of any
  authorization to operate a commuter van service  the  owner  shall  file
  such  statement  and  proof  of the facts as the commission may require,
  with a fee not to exceed twenty-five dollars for each authorization,  at

  the  offices of the commission, and the commission may issue a duplicate
  or substitute authorization.
    j.  No application for authorization to operate a commuter van service
  shall be approved if the applicant has been found guilty of operating  a
  commuter  van service without authorization to operate such commuter van
  service two times within  a  six-month  period  prior  to  the  date  of
  application,  provided  that  such violations were committed on or after
  the  date  occurring  six  months  after  the  effective  date  of  this
  subdivision.
    k.(i)   Notwithstanding  any  other  provision  of  this  section,  no
  application for authorization to operate  a  commuter  van  service,  to
  increase  the  number  of  commuter  vans that a commuter van service is
  authorized to operate, to increase the number of hours  during  which  a
  commuter van service may operate or to modify the territory within which
  a  commuter  van service may operate, other than an application to renew
  an authorization to operate a commuter van service, shall be accepted or
  processed and no pending application, other than an application to renew
  an authorization to operate a commuter van service, shall be approved by
  the commission for a period of one year from the effective date of  this
  paragraph.
    (ii) The department of city planning shall submit to the mayor and the
  council  copies of the final report reflecting the results of a commuter
  van service policy study currently being conducted under the auspices of
  the department of city planning,  or  any  similar  study,  within  five
  business days of its completion.