In the case of Rome Railway & Light Company v. Floyd County, Georgia et al., 1916, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Floyd County. The dispute arose when Rome Railway & Light Company challenged a local ordinance that required it to pave and maintain the streets surrounding its tracks within city limits. The company argued this was an unfair burden and constituted a violation of due process under the Fourteenth Amendment as it was being singled out for such requirements while other businesses were not held to similar standards. However, the court disagreed with their argument stating that railroads are unique because they occupy public roads unlike most other businesses; therefore, municipalities have a right to impose certain obligations on them for using public space in ways others do not or cannot.

In the dissenting opinion for Rome Railway & Light Company v. Floyd County, Georgia, it was argued that the majority's decision to uphold a local ordinance requiring street railway companies to pave and maintain roads between their tracks and two feet beyond them imposed an unfair burden on these companies. The dissenting justices believed this requirement went beyond what could be reasonably expected of such businesses in terms of public service obligations. They pointed out that while railways do have certain duties towards maintaining infrastructure as part of their franchise agreements, there should be limits to these responsibilities based on reasonableness and fairness. In this case, they felt those limits had been exceeded by forcing the company to bear costs which should rightly fall under general taxation or other public funding mechanisms rather than being placed solely upon one industry.