N.M. Stat. § 22-17-2 (2026)

A. Subject to the Emergency Transportation Act, the department of transportation
may approve a permit application of a school district operating its own school buses or
of an independent school bus operator who operates school buses under contract with
a school district for the operation of such buses for general public transportation if the
department of transportation determines that:

      (1)    the school district operating its own school buses or the independent
school bus operator has complied with laws, regulations and other requirements
governing transportation of the general public;

       (2)    existing public or private transportation systems will not be adversely
affected by the use of school buses for general public transportation; and

       (3)   a public transportation emergency exists within the proposed area of
operation necessitating the use of school buses for general public transportation.

    B. Notice of approval or denial of the permit application shall be submitted to the
state transportation director and to the applicant within ten days of final determination by
the department of transportation.

    C. As used in the Emergency Transportation Act, "public transportation emergency"
includes an event:

       (1)      that is open to the public;

      (2)    that, if in a class A county, is expected to attract over fifty thousand visitors
and residents;

       (3)   that has such insurance or surety as is necessary to insure against all
losses and damages proximately caused by or resulting from the negligent operation,
maintenance or use of school buses or for loss of or damage to property of others; and

      (4)       for which school buses are needed to transport the public to the event
because:

           (a) existing public transportation systems cannot adequately and timely
transport the public to the event;

             (b) private transportation systems are unavailable or prohibitively expensive;
or
           (c) the event and the surrounding area are likely to suffer economic hardship
if school buses are not utilized pursuant to the Emergency Transportation Act.

History: 1953 Comp., § 77-14A-2, enacted by Laws 1974, ch. 38, § 2; 2001, ch. 48, §
2; 2023, ch. 100, § 9.

                                     ANNOTATIONS

Cross references. — For exemption of motor vehicles used pursuant to article from
motor carrier regulations, see 65-2A-38 NMSA 1978.

The 2023 amendment, effective July 1, 2024, removed references to the public
regulation commission due to the transfer of certain powers and duties to the
department of transportation; and substituted each occurrence of "public regulation
commission" or "commission" with "department of transportation" throughout the
section.

Temporary provisions. — Laws 2023, ch. 100, § 81, provided that the department of
transportation may review, amend, repeal and enact rules to carry out the provisions of
this act; provided that any rules amended, repealed or enacted pursuant to the authority
provided in this section shall not be effective until July 1, 2024.

The 2001 amendment, effective June 15, 2001, substituted "Public regulation
commission" for "Corporation commission" in the section heading; substituted "public
regulation" for "state corporation" in Subsection A; in Subsection B, deleted "of the state
transportation division of the department of education" following "director", inserted
"public regulation" preceding "commission"; and added Subsection C.