Capital Properties, Inc. v. United States

56 Fed. Cl. 427, 2003 U.S. Claims LEXIS 98, 2003 WL 21077040
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedApril 25, 2003
DocketNo. 99-954 C
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 56 Fed. Cl. 427 (Capital Properties, Inc. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Capital Properties, Inc. v. United States, 56 Fed. Cl. 427, 2003 U.S. Claims LEXIS 98, 2003 WL 21077040 (uscfc 2003).

Opinion

OPINION

MEROW, Senior Judge.

Plaintiffs, Capital Properties, Inc. and Metropark, Ltd. (collectively, “CPI”), maintain and operate a parking garage at the railroad station in Providence, Rhode Island. CPI seeks money damages pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1491(a) alleging that the Federal Railroad Administration (“FRA”) breached the terms of its contract by failing to approve its requests to increase certain parking rates at the Providence facility. Plaintiff also alleges that defendant breached the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The main dispute between the parties is whether CPI is required to seek prior FRA approval for changes in non-Amtrak parking rates. The matter is before the court on the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment pursu[428]*428ant to Rule 56 of the Rules of the Court of Federal Claims (“RCFC”). For the reasons stated below, defendant’s motion is GRANTED.

Background

The following facts are undisputed unless otherwise noted. In 1976, Congress enacted the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory-Reform Act (“4R Act”), Pub.L. No. 94-210, 90 Stat. 33 (1976), codified at 45 U.S.C. §§ 801-855, to improve the infrastructure and financial stability of the national railway. Under Title VII of the 4R Act, the Secretary of Transportation (“Secretary”) delegated to FRA authority to implement the Northeast Corridor Improvement Project (“NECIP”) to improve Amtrak’s facilities used for high-speed intercity rail passenger service between Boston, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. The Northeast Corridor is used for both high-speed intercity passenger service as well as commuter and freight service.1 FRA acted under the authority of the 4R Act to improve the Providence railroad station.

In order to carry out improvements to the Providence station, FRA and CPI entered into the Providence Rail Relocation Project Cooperative Agreement (“Cooperative Agreement”).2 The Cooperative Agreement provided for the relocation of Amtrak’s rail passenger station and associated mainline right-of-way in Providence, and construction of certain integrally related improvements, as part of the implementation of the NECIP. Under the Cooperative Agreement, CPI provided the land for the relocated railroad station and the construction of a parking garage. The parking facility was a “Cost-Shared Improvement” whereby CPI and FRA each contributed 50% of the construction costs.3 As part of the Cooperative

Agreement, FRA and CPI are parties to the Parking Facility Maintenance and Operation Agreement (“Parking Agreement”).

The Parking Agreement has three purposes:

(a) to insure that there will be adequate capacity in the completed Parking Facility for users of intercity rail passenger service, at rates that will not discourage such use;
(b) to insure that rail passengers will not be discriminated against in the operation of and setting of rates for the Parking Facility; and
(c) to protect FRA’s investment in the Parking Facility.

Parking Agreement § 2.

Pursuant to the Parking Agreement, CPI and FRA initially agreed upon a two-tiered public parking rate schedule, with one rate for Amtrak customers and one for all other public users. CPI’s ability to adjust public parking rates is governed by section 6(b) of the Parking Agreement, which states:

Except as provided in subsection (c) below, FRA or its designee shall have the right of prior approval of any changes in public parking rates. Any request by [CPI] for such a change shall be accompanied by appropriate justification. FRA or its des-ignee shall not unreasonably withhold approval of such a request if the interests of intercity rail passengers are not adversely affected by the requested change.

Parking Agreement § 6(b).

Under subsection (c), CPI does not have to seek prior approval to increase parking rates for a period of less than nine hours, decrease [429]*429rates for a period of nine hours or more, or increase all parking rates in equal proportion by a percentage linked to the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index since the last rate increase. The Parking Agreement also provides that “[CPI] shall not sell or reserve parking privileges or spaces through any monthly or other term contract or any other form of commitment (‘contract spaces’) without the ejqoress written approval of FRA or its designee, except that [CPI] may contract with Amtrak to provide parking for Amtrak station personnel.” Parking Agreement § 7.

In or about 1988, CPI began to sell monthly and bi-weekly “commuter books” at a discounted monthly rate of $40 to passengers using the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (“MBTA”) service from Providence to Boston.4 The “commuter books” consisted of twenty-three or twelve daily parking vouchers. Subsequently, CPI increased the discounted monthly rate over time to $80 without seeking prior approval from FRA. In September 1999, CPI announced that it was discontinuing the monthly discount for MBTA passengers, thereby raising the rate charged to MBTA passengers to approximately $192 per month.

The State of Rhode Island (“the State”), as a party to the Cooperative Agreement, brought suit against CPI in the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island to enjoin the rate increase. See Almond v. Capital Props., Inc., 212 F.3d 20 (1st Cir.2000). The State argued that under section 6 of the Parking Agreement, CPI could not increase the parking rates for MBTA passengers without prior FRA approval. On October 4, 1999, the district court enjoined CPI from eliminating the discount until it obtained prior approval or demonstrated that FRA unreasonably refused its request. On October 4,1999, CPI requested FRA approval to terminate the discounted MBTA commuter rate program.

In its request, CPI contended that section 6 required FRA to approve a rate increase if the interests of intercity rail passengers would not be adversely affected. CPI claimed that FRA should approve the rate increase because eliminating the monthly discount would only affect MBTA commuter passengers and therefore could not adversely affect the interests of Amtrak’s intercity rail passengers. Instead, the proposed rate increase would actually result in fewer MBTA passengers using the garage and lead to more spaces available for intercity rail passengers. CPI relied upon the statutory definitions of “commuter service” and “intercity rail passenger service” in effect at the time the parties entered into the Cooperative and Parking Agreements:

“Commuter service” means short-haul rail passenger service operated in metropolitan and suburban areas, whether within or across the geographical boundaries of a State, usually characterized by reduced fare, multiple ride, and commutation tickets and by morning and evening peak periods.
“Intercity rail passenger service” means all rail passenger service other than commuter service.

45 U.S.C.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
56 Fed. Cl. 427, 2003 U.S. Claims LEXIS 98, 2003 WL 21077040, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/capital-properties-inc-v-united-states-uscfc-2003.