BRIDGES OVER THE DELAWARE RIVER
Act of Jul. 13, 1923, P.L. 1093, No. 450
A SUPPLEMENT
To the act, approved the ninth day of July, one thousand nine
hundred and nineteen (Pamphlet Laws, eight hundred and
fourteen), entitled "An act providing for the erection and
construction by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the
State of New Jersey of a bridge over the Delaware River,
connecting the city of Philadelphia and the city of Camden,
and the approaches thereto; providing for a joint commission
for that purpose, and defining its powers and duties;
providing for an independent commission in this Commonwealth
in relation thereto, and defining its powers and duties;
providing for the payment of a part of the cost thereof by
the city of Philadelphia; and providing for the acquiring,
taking, and condemnation of the real estate for the site and
approaches thereof; providing for the turning over of said
bridge upon its completion; and making an appropriation for
the purposes of this act," as amended by an act, approved the
twenty-sixth day of April, one thousand nine hundred and
twenty-one (Pamphlet Laws, two hundred eighty-seven);
extending the power and authority of the Delaware River
Bridge Joint Commission, and its successors, to provide for
equipment of the Delaware River bridge with facilities for
railway, railroad, motor bus, vehicles, or other means of
transportation, also for telegraph, telephone, electric, or
other public service facilities; authorizing operation,
maintenance, and leasing thereof; providing for the fixing
and collection of charges, rates, rentals, or tolls therefor;
and authorizing the making of contracts or leases for use and
occupation of property acquired.
Section 1. Be it enacted, &c., That in addition to the
powers conferred by an act, approved the ninth day of June, one
thousand nine hundred and nineteen (Pamphlet Laws, eight hundred
fourteen), entitled "An act providing for the erection and
construction by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State
of New Jersey of a bridge over the Delaware River, connecting
the city of Philadelphia and the city of Camden, and the
approaches thereto; providing for a joint commission for that
purpose, and defining its powers and duties; providing for an
independent commission in this Commonwealth in relation thereto,
and defining its powers and duties; providing for the payment of
a part of the cost thereof by the city of Philadelphia; and
providing for the acquiring, taking, and condemnation of the
real estate for the site and approaches thereof; providing for
the turning over of said bridge upon its completion; and making
an appropriation for the purposes of this act," and its
amendments, the said joint commission is hereby further
authorized and empowered to exercise the following additional
powers, and perform the following additional duties:
Said joint commission is hereby authorized and empowered to
have prepared the necessary and proper plans and specifications,
and to build, construct, and equip, or have built, constructed,
Cl. 36
or installed the equipment of, the said bridge and the
approaches and plazas appurtenant thereto, together with rails,
tracks, or other appliances and facilities, in such number and
kind and in such manner as may be decided upon by the said joint
commission, for the use of railroad trains or street passenger
railway cars, or both, or other vehicles or means of
transportation operated by electric, steam, or other motive
power, together with such stations, platforms, signals,
switches, towers, conduits, pipes, wiring, and electric or other
power transmission facilities and substations, in connection
therewith, as may be deemed necessary or convenient. The said
joint commission shall have power to provide any and all other
equipment, including power houses and power generating
facilities, rolling stock, engines, cars, or other vehicles or
transportation facilities, as may be deemed necessary or
convenient for use in connection with the operation of said
railways or railroads or other vehicles or transportation
facilities across the said bridge.
Section 2. The said joint commission is hereby authorized
and empowered to enter into leases or other contracts or
agreements with one or more corporations, companies, firms, or
individuals, having power to install or operate electric street
passenger railways, or electric elevated or subway railways, or
any other kind of electric railway, or any steam railroad, or
other means of transportation, in one or both of the
municipalities in which said bridge and its approaches and the
plazas appurtenant thereto are located, for the installation,
operation, or maintenance, by the said contracting corporation
or corporations, company or companies, firm or firms, individual
or individuals, of the said railway or railroad or other
transportation facilities on and across said bridge for the
benefit of the public; or, in its discretion, the said joint
commission may itself install, maintain, use, operate, or
provide for the installation, maintenance, use, and operation of
the said railway, railroad, or other transportation facilities,
without entering into any lease or contract with an operating
corporation, company, firm, or individual for that purpose; or
the said joint commission may maintain, use, and operate any
part or portion of the said facilities and contract for the
maintenance, use, and operation of any other part or portion
thereof.
Section 3. The said joint commission is also hereby further
authorized and empowered, in its discretion, to provide for the
operation of motor busses or other similar vehicles on and
across the said bridge, either by acquiring such motor busses or
vehicles and itself providing for the operation and maintenance
of the same, or by providing, by lease or other contract, for
the operation and maintenance by others of such motor busses or
vehicles either acquired and furnished by the said joint
commission or otherwise.
Section 4. The said joint commission, in its discretion, is
hereby further authorized and empowered to provide and equip
said bridge and the approaches and plazas appurtenant thereto
with such conduits, pipes, supports, or other appliances as may
be necessary or convenient for the installation, maintenance,
and operation of telegraph, telephone, electric light or power,
or other public service facilities; or said joint commission is
hereby authorized and empowered to enter into leases or other
contracts with public service corporations, companies, firms, or
individuals, authorized so to do, for the installation of such
facilities and for the maintenance, operation, and use thereof.
Section 5. Said joint commission shall further have the
power and authority, in connection with any or all of the
contracts or leases hereby authorized to be made, to fix,
collect, and receive suitable charges, rates, rentals, or tolls
for the leasing, operation, use, or maintenance of any of the
facilities comprehended within the provisions of this act; and
the same shall be paid to the treasurer of the said joint
commission, to be expended for the lawful purposes of the
commission as it shall order and direct, so long as said joint
commission shall continue to exist and continue in control of
said bridge; and, upon the turning over of said bridge to the
city of Philadelphia and the representatives of the State of New
Jersey, as provided by the act of which this is a supplement, or
to such other agency or agencies, body or bodies, as may be
authorized by law, the charges, rentals, tolls, or other revenue
or income accruing under said leases or other contracts shall be
due and payable to the city of Philadelphia and the agency or
body representing the State of New Jersey, proportionately, as
provided for in said leases or other contracts for the use,
operation, or furnishing of the facilities aforesaid.
Section 6. Said joint commission is also hereby further
authorized and empowered to make and enter into leases or other
contracts or agreements with corporations, firms, or individuals
for the use or occupation of any of the property or properties,
easements, or franchises, acquired by the said joint commission
by purchase, or by the Pennsylvania commission designated in the
act of Assembly to which this act is a supplement acquired by
condemnation or otherwise, or for the erection or construction
of buildings or structures and the leasing of the same or of
space or facilities under or upon said bridge or the approaches
or plazas appurtenant thereto,--with power and authority to
make, fix, and collect charges and rentals for such use and
occupation; said charges or rentals to be paid to the treasurer
of the said joint commission, and to be expended for the lawful
uses and purposes of the joint commission in the same manner and
to the same extent as provided in section seven of this act.
Section 7. All leases, contracts, and agreements made under
the provisions of this act shall be made for such periods and
upon such terms and conditions as shall, in the opinion of the
joint commission, best promote the welfare and convenience of
the public using the bridge. All such contracts shall be
conditioned upon the granting of all necessary consents,
approvals, and certificates of convenience by State and
municipal authorities in the States of Pennsylvania and New
Jersey.
Section 8. The said joint commission, or its successor or
successors in the control and custody of the said bridge, shall
not proceed to exercise or carry out any authority or power
herein granted or hereby given it until the State of New Jersey,
by appropriate legislation, shall first have vested like powers
in the said joint commission and its successor or successors in
the control and custody of the said bridge.
Section 9. The said power to provide for, acquire, install,
maintain, operate, and use the said facilities, to enter into
leases, contracts, and agreements, and all other powers
conferred by this act, shall remain vested in the said joint
commission in full force and effect during the time said joint
commission shall continue in existence and in control of the
said bridge, and shall inure to and vest unimpaired in its
successor or successors in whom may be vested the control and
custody of said bridge; and upon the turning over of the said
bridge to the city of Philadelphia and the representatives of
the State of New Jersey, as provided for by the act to which
this is a supplement, or to such body or bodies as may be
authorized by law to receive the control of the same, the said
authority and powers above enumerated shall inure to and vest in
the said body or bodies so appointed or created to receive and
take over the custody, maintenance, and operation of the said
bridge and so receiving the same, or any such agency as may be
for that purpose legally appointed or created by the body or
bodies so receiving custody and control of the said bridge.