Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad v. Public Service Commission

66 N.W.2d 351, 267 Wis. 402, 1954 Wisc. LEXIS 323
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 5, 1954
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 66 N.W.2d 351 (Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad v. Public Service Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad v. Public Service Commission, 66 N.W.2d 351, 267 Wis. 402, 1954 Wisc. LEXIS 323 (Wis. 1954).

Opinion

Steinle, J.

The appellant Railroad Company seeks a reversal of the commission’s order for the reasons: (1) That it, is unsupported by substantial evidence in view of the entire record; (2) because the findings, inferences, and conclusions of the commission are contrary to the railroad’s constitutional rights and privileges; and (3) further because they are arbitrary and capricious.

Sec. 227.20 (1), (2), Stats., provides:

“(1) The review shall be conducted by the court without a jury and shall be confined to the record, . . . The court may affirm the decision of the agency, or may reverse or modify it if the substantial rights of the appellant have been prejudiced as a result of the administrative findings, inferences, conclusions, or decisions being:
“(a) Contrary to constitutional rights or privileges; or
“(b) and (c) . . .
“(d) Unsupported by substantial evidence in view of the entire record as submitted; or
“(e) Arbitrary or capricious.
“(2) Upon such review due weight shall be accorded the experience, technical competence, and specialized knowledge of the agency involved, as well as discretionary authority conferred upon it. . . .”

Appellant contends that the patronage of the passenger trains in question has decreased and the loss of operations has increased to an extent where it should no longer be compelled to furnish service in the area, except as proposed by it.

The respondent maintains that the Railroad Company has a duty to furnish reasonably adequate service to the public and that its proposal here would not accomplish such end; that the public need for the present service outweighs the railroad’s loss; that there is no showing that the operating loss between Wausau and Woodruff would materially affect the over-all operation of the railroad. It maintains, further, that the findings are supported by substantial evidence. It [408]*408denies that the findings and conclusions are arbitrary and capricious and argues that there is no constitutional question involved. . ,

In Gateway City Transfer Co. v. Public Service Comm. (1948), 253 Wis. 397, 34 N. W. (2d) 238, and Motor Transport Co. v. Public Service Comm. (1953), 263 Wis. 31, 56 N. W. (2d) 548, this court construed the term “substantial evidence in view of the entire record” as such appears in sec. 227.20 (1) (d)', Stats., supra. We have adopted the view that substantial evidence is such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion. We have agreed with the interpretation stated in Universal Camera Corp. v. Labor Board (1951), 340 U. S. 474, 71 Sup. Ct. 456, 95 L. Ed. 456, that the substantiality of evidence must take into account whatever in the record fairly detracts from its weight. We have also accepted the view as expressed in the opinion of that case that (p. 488) :

“To be sure, the requirement for canvassing ‘the whole record’ in order to ascertain substantiality does not furnish a calculus of value by which a reviewing court can assess the evidence. Nor was it intended to negative the function of the . . . [administrative board] as one of those agencies presumably equipped or informed by experience to deal with a specialized field of knowledge, whose findings within that field carry the authority of an expertness which courts do not possess and therefore must respect. Nor does it mean that even as to matters not requiring expertise a court may displace the board’s choice between two fairly conflicting views, even though the court would justifiably have made a different choice had the matter been before it de novo. Congress has merely made it clear that a reviewing court is not barred from setting aside a board decision when it cannot conscientiously find that the evidence supporting that decision is substantial, when viewed in the light that the record in its entirety furnishes, including the body of evidence opposed to the board’s view.”

[409]*409The commission determined that the company’s proposal is not consistent with the furnishing of reasonably adequate transportation service to the public; that the public need for the present train service outweighs the loss to the Railroad Company; that there is no showing that the operating loss resulting from the present train service between Wausau and Woodruff sought to be discontinued materially affects the over-all operations of the railroad.

In reviewing the commission’s order with respect to the first point of the Railroad Company’s challenge, it is incumbent upon the court to examine the entire record to ascertain whether there is substantial evidence to support the fact findings and ultimate conclusions upon which the commission’s order is predicated.

It appears from records furnished by the Railroad Company and included in evidence before the commission that in the seven-month period October 1, 1951, to April 30, 1952, trains 200 and 201 carried on some or all of the run between Wausau and Woodruff an average of 29 passengers per trip, or a total of 12,339 passengers, resulting in an average of 13.9 passenger miles a train mile. For the comparable period in 1949-1950, the records indicated an average use by 38.6 passengers per trip or a total of 14)043. The Railroad Company points to the decline of patronage in the compared periods. The respondent insists that the patronage is still substantial despite the decrease.

The record indicates that a large portion of the traffic on trains 200 and 201 during said seven-month period made connections with main-line trains at New Lisbon. The average number of passengers on said train between New Lisbon and Wausau was 50, between Wausau and Merrill was 27, and north of Merrill 12.4. On southbound train 200, of 6,931 passengers carried in the seven-month period, 4,190 were through passengers originating north of Wausau at [410]*410stations beyond Wausau. On northbound train 201, of 5,408 passengers carried in the same period, 3,976 were passengers originating south of Wausau going to points north of Wau-sau. Southbound passengers carried to points up to and including Wausau were 2,741, and northbound passengers carried from Wausau and points north were 1,432. The total of all these passengers is 12,339.

The Railroad Company presented evidence that in its operation of the segment of the line from Wausau to Woodruff in the seven-month period October 1, 1951, to April 30, 1952, its total out-of-pocket expense was $53,112, and that its revenues amounted to $11,638, resulting in a net loss of $41,474 or $1,298 per train mile. The carrier’s evidence indicates that in the identical seven-month period of 1949-1950 the loss per train mile was $.994. At present no mail revenue is derived by these trains whereas in 1949-1950 such revenue amounted to $1,697. The carrier’s evidence tended to show that its operating cost on this part of the line increased substantially despite its efforts to reduce the same.

It maintains that in view of rising expenses its net loss is bound to increase.

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Bluebook (online)
66 N.W.2d 351, 267 Wis. 402, 1954 Wisc. LEXIS 323, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chicago-milwaukee-st-paul-pacific-railroad-v-public-service-wis-1954.