Yellow Transportation

George Jay Joseph, who owned and rebuilt Baltimore's Yellow Cab Co. into the region's largest passenger ground transportation business, died of cancer Monday at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda. The Chevy Chase resident was 87. Born in Bethlehem, Pa., he was the son of a Lithuanian immigrant peddler who went on to found a department store in Reading, Pa. He earned a bachelor's degree at Pennsylvania State University and a law degree from the University of Virginia after Army service during World War II. Mr. Joseph went into the legal publishing business in downtown Washington in the 1950s and named his first two companies, Jefferson Law Book and Thomas Jefferson Publishing, in honor of the president who established the University of Virginia.

The Maryland Public Service Commission, which regulates the taxi industry, said yesterday that it has been aware for weeks that Yellow Transportation Inc. was in negotiations to be sold to a foreign company, and is preparing for what could be a complicated review process. "It could potentially be a fairly large transaction that may require a different kind of review because [Yellow] is a bigger operation," PSC spokesman Bob Harris said. "To my knowledge, we've never looked at any transactions involving non-U.

State legislators plan to question representatives of the Mass Transit Administration and Yellow Transportation Co. next week about problems experienced by disabled people who rely on a state-financed ride program. Del. Peter Franchot, a Montgomery County Democrat, arranged the session after a story in Thursday's editions of The Sun that described long-standing difficulties encountered by riders. About 5,400 disabled Baltimore area residents regularly rely on the service, paying $1.55 a trip to get to work, school, shopping, church and doctor appointments.

A disability rights advocate who was hailed in Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s State of the State address said yesterday that he feels "hurt" and "insulted" after learning that Department of Transportation officials tracked his movements and questioned whether he was getting preferential treatment from a state contractor. Joel D. Myerberg, head of the Maryland Disabilities Forum, said he was outraged by an e-mail in which the assistant to the No. 2 official of the department reported on his activities during a visit to Annapolis and questioned whether Yellow Transportation Inc. was giving him service it denies to others.

The Maryland Transit Administration has awarded the contract to operate a paratransit service for thousands of disabled Marylanders every day to two out-of-state companies - replacing a Baltimore company whose service drew widespread criticism. The MTA decision would replace Yellow Transportation/Connex, the company that has operated the door-to-door Mobility service in the Baltimore region for most of the past 16 years. The company has been the subject of many complaints by its customers and disability rights advocates but has also been credited with saving the program when another contractor defaulted in the late 1990s.

Most commuters may look at this region's gridlocked beltways and cities as a nightmare. But Europe's largest private operator of buses and commuter trains sees only lucrative opportunities. That is why Connex is acquiring privately held Yellow Transportation Inc. of Baltimore, the chief executive of the French company said yesterday in his first interview since the deal was confirmed last week. "The Washington-Baltimore metropolitan area is one of the fastest-growing and most congested areas in the U.S.," said Antoine Frerot.

A bus company based in Savage has been awarded Howard County's two largest public transportation services.Yellow Transportation Inc. will operate the Howard Area Transit Service (HATS) and Connect-A-Ride for five years beginning July 1, with an option to renew for an additional two years, according to an announcement by officials of Corridor Transportation Corp. (CTC), which manages both services.It will be the first time that a single company has operated both services."We're very excited," said Mark L. Joseph, president of Yellow Transportation, which has been operating commuter runs for the Mass Transit Administration from Laurel to Baltimore and from Columbia to Baltimore for three years.

An early-morning fire caused about $500,000 in damage Friday to three parked commercial buses in Savage. There were no injuries. State fire marshals hadn't determined the source of the fire, which started at about 2:50 a.m. in the parking lot belonging to Yellow Transportation Inc. Twenty firefighters were called to contain the blaze.

A man jumped from the highest spot on the Bay Bridge early Monday afternoon and was pulled — alive — from the water by Natural Resources Police. The unidentified man was flown by State Police helicopter to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center. There is no word on his condition. The incident happened shortly after 12:30 p.m. on the two-lane eastbound span. A witness said a man dressed in shorts, sneakers and a red T-shirt who appeared to be in his late 20s or early 30s was standing by a silver hatchback car in the left lane that was closed for construction.

The city and Yellow Transportation are putting the final touches on an agreement that would allow Baltimore to sell the Baltimore Trolley Works next month. The city has spent millions of dollars subsidizing the quasi-public line since 1985 and appears close to getting out of the trolley business, a city official said yesterday."If you consider [the] fact that it costs the city somewhere between half a million and three-quarters of a million annually to operate the system, we just don't have the money," said Ella Pierce, a spokeswoman for the city Finance Department.