5. SFO's Case Against Jurisdiction

SFO maintains that safety regulation of the AirTrain is vested solely in the City and County of San Francisco. The City Charter provides that the Airport Commission "shall have charge of the construction, management, extension, operation, use and control of all property, as well as the real, personal and financial assets which are under the Commission's jurisdiction." (City Charter 4.115.) California Government Code § 50474 provides that "in connection with the erection, improvement, expansion, or maintenance of such airports or facilities, a local agency may...(f) Regulate the use of the airport and facilities and other property or means of transportation within or over the airport."

SFO acknowledges that the Commission has authority to regulate safety of public transit guideways pursuant to § 99152, but it argues that this authority is limited to transit districts or transit agencies like BART. SFO further maintains:

Section 99152 is contained within Division 10 of the Public Utilities Code, which is entitled "Transit Districts." The term "transit" is defined numerous times within other parts of Division 10, as "the transportation of passengers only and their incidental baggage by means other than chartered bus, sightseeing bus, or any other motor vehicle not on an individual passenger farepaying basis." (See, e.g., Public Utilities Code §§ 40005, 70005, 90005, 95005, and 98005.) In other words, "transit" as contemplated by the Public Utilities Code only includes transportation on a farepaying basis.... Because the AirTrain is an internal airport shuttle system that does not accept individual passenger fares, it is not "transit" within the meaning of the Public Utilities Code, and therefore cannot be considered a "public transit guideway." (SFO Opening Brief, at 9-10.)

As to Staff's contention that the AirTrain is a common carrier, SFO notes that § 211 defines "common carrier" as "every person and corporation providing transportation for compensation to or for the public or any portion thereof" (emphasis added). SFO states that AirTrain will not be providing transportation "for compensation" because service will be provided at no charge to SFO passengers, workers and tenants.

Similarly, SFO contends that the Commission's GO 164-B by its own terms is applicable only to "rail fixed guideway systems," not to AirTrain's rubber-tired vehicles that run on a concrete guideway. (GO 164-B, § 1.2.) By the same token, according to SFO, neither GO 127 nor GO 143-B can apply to the AirTrain because those general orders deal with railroads and light-rail guideways and not with rubber-tired vehicles that do not operate on rails.

SFO notes (and Staff concedes) that people-mover systems at other airports are regulated only by the airport authority or municipality in which they operate and are not subject to safety oversight by a state agency. These airports include Hartsfield International Airport (Atlanta), Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Denver International Airport, Chicago O'Hare International Airport, and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.