Corona Municipal Code Ch. 5.50 Vehicles for Hire

For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings respectively set forth in this section.

(A) “Automobile for hire” includes every automobile or motor-propelled vehicle by means of which passengers are transported for hire upon any public street in the city and not over a regular or defined route, irrespective of whether the operation extends beyond the boundary limits of the city or not, excepting vehicles embraced within the term “taxicab” and the term “tow truck” and excepting vehicles of transportation companies as defined in division (C).

(B) "Taxicab" includes every automobile or motor-propelled vehicle in the city and not over a regular or defined route and irrespective of whether the operation extends beyond the boundary limits of the city or not, where charge for such transportation is measured by the distance traveled, or by the time required for such transportation, or both, and where a meter is used for such measurement as provided in this chapter, excepting vehicles of transportation companies as defined in division (C).

(C) "Transportation companies" is synonymous with the phrase "transporting company" as defined in that certain Act of the Legislature of the state approved May 10, 1917, providing for the supervision and regulation of the transportation of persons and property for compensation over public highways by automobiles, jitney buses, auto trucks, stages and auto stages and all amendments to the Act.

(`78 Code, § 5.50.010.) (Am. Ord. 2567 § 1, 2002.)

No person shall operate an automobile for hire or a taxicab upon any public street within the city without first having obtained a permit in accordance with provisions of this chapter, paying the fees established by City Council resolution or by this chapter or complying or having complied with all the provisions of this chapter. The City Council may, by resolution, establish fees for permit processing, investigations, inspections and other regulatory activities, provided no fee shall exceed the reasonable cost of performing the activity for which the charge is made.

(`78 Code, § 5.50.020.) (Ord. 1713 § 1, 1984.)

(A) Upon receipt of any application referred to in § 5.50.040, the Chief of Police shall set a time, not less than ten nor more than 30 days thereafter, for a review of the application and shall give notice to the applicant by mail of the time so set at least five days before the date of the interview.

(B) At the time set for the interview on such application, the Chief of Police may examine the applicant and determine whether or not the public interest, convenience and necessity require the issuance of the permit applied for, and if it is found by the Chief of Police that the public interest, convenience and necessity require the issuance of the permit, he or she shall order the issuance of a permit in accordance with the application, subject to the filing and approval requirements specified in § 5.50.120.

(C) The following reasons shall be sufficient for denial of the permit:

(1) The application is not in the form or does not contain the information required by this chapter;

(2) The vehicle or vehicles described in the application are inadequate or unsafe for the purpose for which they are to be used;

(3) The color scheme, name, monogram or insignia to be used upon such automobile is in conflict with or imitates any color scheme, name, monogram or insignia used by any other person, firm or corporation in such a manner as to be misleading or tend to deceive or defraud the public;

(4) The location of the stand, as designated in the application, will congest or interfere with travel on any public street or that the proposed stand is within 300 feet of any other stand theretofore authorized;

(5) The applicant has had a previous permit revoked;

(6) If the Chief of Police determines that there are a sufficient number of taxicabs and automobiles for hire in the city to adequately serve the public, that the granting of additional permits would unduly congest traffic and interfere with the free use of the streets by the public or that the public interest, convenience and necessity do not require the issuance of the permit.

(D) The permit may be issued upon the condition that the number of vehicles allowed to operate within the city at any time be a specified number less than every motor vehicle listed on the permit application, inspected pursuant to the chapter and licensed pursuant to Chapter 5.02.

(`78 Code, § 5.50.030.) (Ord. 2352 § 1, 1998; Ord. 1713 § 2, 1984.)

Any person desiring to obtain the permit required by § 5.50.020 shall pay a nonrefundable fee as set by resolution to the Chief of Police and shall make application for the permit, which application shall set forth:

(A) The name and address of the applicant, and if the same is a corporation, the names of its principal officers, or if the same is a partnership, the names of the partners, with the address of each;

(B) A statement as to whether the permit is desired for an automobile for hire or a taxicab;

(C) A description of every motor vehicle which the applicant proposes to use giving:

(1) Trade name;

(2) Motor and serial number;

(3) State license number;

(4) Seating capacity; and

(5) Body style;

(D) The street number and exact location of the place or places where the applicant proposes to stand each such automobile, cab, taxicab or automobile for hire;

(E) Proposed schedule of rates or fares to be charged for carrying passengers;

(F) The distinctive color scheme, name, monogram or insignia which shall be used on such automobile for hire;

(G) If any proposed stand is in a public street, the application shall be accompanied by a written consent thereto of all the occupants of the ground floor of any building in front of which such vehicle is to be located and for 25 feet each way therefrom, or if there is no such occupant, by the written consent thereto of the owner or lessee of such building or lot.

(`78 Code, § 5.50.040.) (Ord. 2352 § 2, 1998.)

No permit issued under the terms of this chapter shall be transferable either by contract or operation of law without the permission of the Council and any such attempted transfer shall be sufficient cause for revocation of the permit.

(`78 Code, § 5.50.050.)

No person shall solicit or load passengers on the streets of Corona for transportation in any taxicab, automobile, station wagon or bus not licensed by and carrying a permit issued pursuant to the terms of this chapter.

(`78 Code, § 5.50.060.)

Any permit granted under the provisions of this section may be revoked by the Chief of Police either as a whole or as to any car or cars described therein or as to the right to use any distinctive color, monogram or insignia, after five days notice to the permit holder, requiring him or her to appear at a certain time and place to show cause why the permit should not be revoked for any of the following reasons:

(A) The undertaking provided for in § 5.50.120 has not been given or has been withdrawn or lapsed for nonpayment of premium or is not in force for any reason;

(B) The nonpayment of any business license fee;

(C) Failure to observe any of the rules and regulations or provisions set forth in this chapter;

(D) The violation of any law of the state or ordinance of the city pertaining to the operation of taxicabs or motor vehicles by a permit holder, operator or driver of a taxicab;

(E) Failure to maintain satisfactory service to the public, failure to keep any car described in the permit in use for an unreasonable length of time or failure to use the distinctive color, monogram or insignia described in the application;

(F) Any cause which in the opinion of the Chief of Police makes it contrary to the public interest, convenience and necessity for the permit to be continued.

(`78 Code, § 5.50.070.) (Ord. 2152 § 3, 1998.)

The following rules and regulations shall be observed by all persons operating taxicabs or automobiles for hire, and no person shall operate any taxicab or automobile for hire in violation of any of the following rules. (The term "taxicab" wherever used in this section shall include automobile for hire.)

(A) Any person operating a taxicab shall wear a distinctive hat or cap with a badge in plain sight inscribed with the name of the person to whom the permit has been issued. This division shall not apply to any individual to whom a permit has been issued when driving his or her own car.

(B) No taxicab shall remain standing upon any portion of any public street within the city except for loading and unloading passengers and then for a period of not more than five minutes, excepting at a stand authorized by the Council. This subsection shall not apply to any taxicab while the same is engaged by a passenger.

(C) No operator or owner of a taxicab shall solicit or pick up any passenger after such taxicab has been engaged by another, without the latter’s consent.

(D) The operator of a taxicab shall carry passengers to their destination by the most direct and accessible route.

(E) No owner or operator of a taxicab shall solicit patronage for the same from the vehicle or within 100 yards therefrom, upon any public street or sidewalk, save and except at railroad or bus stops.

(F) All taxicabs shall be kept in good mechanical condition and operated in a careful and prudent manner.

(G) (1) No person shall operate a taxicab in the city without first having obtained a Corona taxicab driver’s permit, issued in writing by the Chief of Police.

(2) Each applicant for a Corona permit shall file an application therefor with the Police Department, accompanied by the fee established by resolution of the City Council. No permit shall be issued to any driver or operator under the age of 18 years, to any person who has been convicted of a felony, to any person who within a period of two years immediately preceding such application has been convicted of reckless driving or of driving a vehicle upon a highway while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs or to any person who is for any reason whatever unable or incompetent to safely operate an automobile.

(3) Each applicant must demonstrate his or her skill and ability to operate a motor vehicle under such conditions as the Chief of Police may prescribe. Each applicant for a permit shall also be examined by a person designated by the Chief of Police as to his or her knowledge of the provisions of this chapter, traffic regulations and the geography of the city, and if the result of the examination be unsatisfactory, a permit shall be refused.

(4) The Chief of Police may refuse a permit to any person if after investigation it appears to him or her that the issuance thereof would not be compatible with the public interest and welfare.

(5) A permit may be issued to any person holding a valid taxicab driver’s permit issued by the City of Riverside, provided that the procedures and requirements in force at the time of issuance were substantially equivalent to the requirements of this chapter. Acceptance of a City of Riverside taxicab driver’s permit for any purpose by the Chief of Police shall not excuse compliance with any additional or more stringent requirement of this chapter for issuance of a taxicab driver’s permit.

(6) Upon obtaining a permit as required in this chapter, the holder thereof shall be entitled to a badge of such design and having such number as the Chief of Police may prescribe; also, an identification card and a card to be posted in the passenger compartment of the vehicle operated by him or her, as required by subsection (1). The badge and cards shall be the property of the city and must be returned to the Police Department upon termination of employment in the city as an operator of a taxicab.

(7) Approved permits shall be valid from the date of issuance to the date of exit from the company by the respective driver.

(H) No owner or operator of a taxicab shall indulge in unfair competition with competitors or shall commit any fraud upon the public or other persons engaged in the same business, and the Council shall be the sole judge of what constitutes fraud or unfair competition under the provisions of this section. (Complaints to the Council of violations of this section shall be heard upon written statements specifying the acts complained of, sworn to before an officer authorized to administer oaths.)

(I) Every taxicab shall have posted in the passenger’s compartment a schedule of rates and charges for the hire of the vehicle and a copy of this section, also a card bearing the driver’s name and address and another card bearing the owner’s name, address and telephone number and the Police Department phone number, all contained in a metal container or holder and placed in a conspicuous place in the passenger compartment.

(J) Every taxicab shall be equipped with a light of not less than two candlepower so arranged as to illuminate the whole of the passenger compartment. The light shall be constantly lighted while any passenger is in such vehicle (except when the same is in motion) from one-half hour after sunset until one-half hour before sunrise of the next day, and no shades or blinds shall be drawn over the windows while any passenger is in such vehicle.

(K) No charge shall be made by any operator or owner of a taxicab in excess of the rates approved by the Council and posted in the passenger compartment.

(L) No taxicab shall be operated unless the passenger compartment is kept in a clean and sanitary condition.

(M) Every taxicab operated in the city shall be equipped with a meter in good working order, in plain sight of the passengers, which shall constantly show the charge made for the hire of the vehicle.

(`78 Code, § 5.50.080.) (Ord. 1787 § 1, 1986; Ord. 1713 § 3, 1984.)

Any applicant for a permit who desires space in which to stand a taxicab on the street shall obtain permission of the property owners or occupants, as required in § 5.50.040. No applicant shall be entitled to space on the street for more than one taxicab, and all applicants for a permit for more than one vehicle shall be required to provide parking space for the remainder of the vehicles off the streets of the city and shall not be entitled to stand the same on public streets longer than necessary to load and unload passengers, except while the vehicle is actually engaged by a passenger.

(`78 Code, § 5.50.090.)

In the event that any permit holder desires to change his or her schedule of rates and charges or color scheme, name, monogram or insignia used on such taxicab to substitute any vehicle for and in place of the vehicle or vehicles described in the application for permit or to increase or decrease the number of vehicles operated by him or her, he or she shall first make application for permission to do so from the Chief of Police, which permission shall be granted if, in the discretion of the Chief of Police, he or she deems the public interest, necessity and convenience will be subserved by such change, and provided further that the permit holder has complied with all provisions of this chapter and paid fees as approved by resolution of the City Council.

(`78 Code, § 5.50.100.) (Ord. 2352 § 4, 1998.)

No person shall operate along or upon any public street of the city, any vehicle for the transportation of passengers for hire, irrespective of whether such operations extend beyond the boundary limits of the city, except the following:

(A) A taxicab or automobile for hire when authorized by permit issued in accordance with the provisions of this chapter;

(B) A vehicle operated by a duly authorized "passenger stage corporation," as defined in the Public Utilities Act of the State of California; or

(C) A vehicle operated by the holder of a franchise duly and regularly awarded by the city.

(`78 Code, § 5.50.110.)

Before a permit is issued, the applicant shall deliver to the Chief of Police evidence of insurance issued by an insurance company licensed to do business in the State of California which covers all legal claims for damages to persons or property resulting from the operation of the automobile or automobiles referred to in the application. The insurance shall include commercial general liability and business automobile liability coverage with combined single limits of at least $1,000,000 each, or such limits as may be established from time to time by resolution of the City Council. The insurance shall remain in full force and effect during the life of the permit. The insurance shall be approved by the Chief of Police.

(`78 Code, § 5.50.120.) (Ord. 2352 § 5, 1998.)

No person shall refuse to pay the legal fare for the hire of any taxicab with intent to defraud the person from whom it is hired.

(`78 Code, § 5.50.130.)

(A) Appeals - filing. Any person claiming to be aggrieved by a decision of the Chief of Police with respect to the issuance, renewal or refusal to issue or renew the license required by the provisions of this chapter may appeal to the City Council by filing a written notice of appeal with the City Clerk. The appellant shall state in said notice the factual and legal grounds, if any, in support of the appeal.

(B) Hearings - notice. The City Clerk shall thereupon fix the time and date for the City Council’s hearing such appeal, which date shall not be earlier than ten days from the date the notice of appeal was filed. The City Clerk shall give notice to such person of the time, date and place of the hearing by serving him or her personally or by depositing the notice in the United States post office at Corona, California, postage prepaid, addressed to such person at his or her last known address.

(C) Hearings - determinations. The City Council shall hear the appellant and the Chief of Police or his or her representative. It may also hear any other person. After the hearing is concluded, the City Council shall determine the appeal, and such determination is final. No such determination shall conflict with any substantive provision of this chapter.

(`78 Code, § 5.50.140.) (Ord. 2352 § 6, 1998.)