Transportation regulators get into touchy competition issues

The Transportation Services Authority of Nevada will conduct a public hearing on its procedural regulations next month that likely will raise thorny issues about competition in the local ground transportation industry.

The issue is important to limousine operators, tow truck companies and professional movers regulated by the TSA who have to submit to questioning from intervenors -- competitors that would be affected if a new license is granted.

TSA commissioners on Thursday unanimously voted to begin the rulemaking process, which includes public hearings within 40 days. A 150-page procedural regulations document was reviewed by the Legislative Counsel Bureau and forwarded to commissioners on Wednesday.

Commission Chairman John Mendoza said that while he and his commission colleagues haven't had much time to review the LCB revisions, it's likely that companies regulated by the TSA will pick the document apart and voice their concerns at hearings.

Mendoza said the procedural regulations are necessary because the agency has been operating under the rules of the old Public Service Commission. Nevada legislators split the PSC into the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada and the TSA in October. But because the nature of utilities and transportation issues are different, the TSA needed a new framework of regulations to manage day-to-day operations.

Critics of the TSA have complained the process of allowing an intervenor to question license applicants is anticompetitive.

Mendoza explained the system is a part of the information gathering process necessary to licensing and that existing service providers have been given the right to participate as intervenors by Nevada court rulings.

"The process itself is very much like a court hearing," Mendoza said. "A hearing officer listens to the testimony like a judge in a civil case."

Mendoza explained the hearing officer must rule on issues of whether information sought by an intervenor is relevant to the case.

Members of the Independent Limousine Owners/Operators Association have complained the intervention process compels prospective operators to disclose information about customer lists, business strategy and employee background that is irrelevant to the licensing process.

In other TSA business, commissioners approved a settlement agreement with Insta-Move, a local moving and packing company. The TSA's predecessor, the Public Service Commission, had issued six administrative citations against Insta-Move for operating as an intrastate carrier without certification. The total of $56,000 in fines was reduced to $18,600 through the settlement.

Stephen Maresca, owner of Insta-Move, said his company has a solid reputation in Southern Nevada and he is submitting an application to be licensed formally. His company is authorized to pack and load trucks, but not transport anything.

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