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the “regular route” requirement.5 Under section 6421(b),
transportation must be scheduled “along regular routes” unless
the seating capacity of the bus is at least 20 adults.
Petitioners concede that all of the vehicles at issue seated
under 20 adults. Therefore, the issue is whether petitioners
provided transportation scheduled along regular routes. The
Senate report issued in conjunction with the Energy Tax Act of
1978 states that in order for service to qualify as scheduled and
on regular routes under the statute, the service must provide
“scheduled transportation along regular routes (such as is
provided by local transit systems or an intercity bus operation
providing regularly scheduled service along regular routes)”. S.
Rept. 95-529, supra at 55, 1978-3 C.B. (Vol. 2) at 247.
Petitioners fail to satisfy this requirement.
Unlike typical local transit systems, there were no
published timetables available to the general public that the
sedans and vans were required to follow. The schedules were
prepared the night before the travel day. Although petitioners’
services were provided on a daily basis, they did not follow a
regular schedule, nor were the routes they traveled “regular”. A
stop that was listed on a previous day’s manifest might or might
not have appeared on a subsequent manifest. The existence of
5Respondent no longer contests the “available to the general
public” requirement.
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