Baltimore v. Baltimore Motor Coach Co.

Hammond, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. On October 10, 1957, The Baltimore and Annapolis Railroad Co., a Maryland corporation, operating as a common carrier of persons by motor bus for hire between fixed termini within the State of Maryland, two of which were Baltimore and Annapolis, asked the Public Service Commission to order The Baltimore Motor Coach Company, a similar ⁵⁶⁸ corporation, not to transport the brigade of midshipmen from Annapolis to Baltimore and back to Annapolis, in connection with football games on October 26, November 9, November 16, and November 30, 1957, as it had contracted to do, for the reason that the Coach Company did not hold a permit authorizing it to transport persons on regular schedules between the fixed termini of Annapolis and Baltimore and Baltimore and Annapolis. The Railroad Company relied on two sections of Code, 1957, one of which, Art. 78, Sec. 32 (a), forbids transportation of persons for hire “on regular schedules and between fixed termini” without a permit from the Public Service Commission; and the other of which, Art. 66^2, Sec. 2 (a) (42), provides: “‘Regular schedule’ shall be given a liberal construction and shall include the carriage of * * * passengers of at least one single trip per week for four consecutive weeks, or three single trips within a period of ten days * * The Baltimore Motor Coach Company, in its answer, admitted that the transportation was proposed but said that it was a charter operation not subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission and not in violation of the provisions of Art. 78. A hearing was held on October 16, 1957, at which witnesses were produced for both sides, and argument heard.

On October 17, 1957, the Commission filed its opinion and order, dismissing the complaint and denying the relief sought by The Baltimore and Annapolis Railroad Co. Almost two months later, on December 10, 1957, and more than a week after the last trip complained of had taken place, the Railroad Company filed in the Circuit Court of Baltimore City a petition for review of the order of the Public Service Commission. After a hearing, the Circuit Court, on April 7, 1958, affirmed the order of the Commission and dismissed the petition for review. The Railroad Company appeals. The Public Service Commission has moved to dismiss the appeal on the ground that the case is moot, and we think the motion must be granted.

The action which the Railroad