El Segundo Municipal Code Ch. 4 Vehicles for Hire

The following words and phrases when used in this Chapter shall, for the purposes of this Chapter, have the meanings respectively ascribed to them in this Section:

AUTOMOBILE FOR HIRE OR VEHICLE FOR HIRE: Every automobile or motor propelled vehicle of private appearance, not equipped with a taximeter, used for the transportation of passengers over the public streets of the City and not over a defined route, and irrespective of whether the operations extend beyond the boundary limits of the City, at rates per mile, per trip, per hour, per day, per week or per month, and the vehicle is routed under the direction of the passenger or the person hiring the same.

DRIVER: Includes every person in charge of, driving or operating any passenger carrying or motor propelled vehicle, either as agent, employee or otherwise.

SIGHTSEEING AUTOMOBILE: Every automobile or motor propelled vehicle used for the transportation of passengers over the public streets of the City, and not necessarily over a defined route, irrespective of whether the operations extend beyond the boundary limits of the City, for the purpose of sightseeing or showing points of interest, and charging a fee or compensation therefor.

STREET: Any place commonly used for the purpose of public travel.

STREET STAND: A portion of a street designated by either the City Council or by the traffic authority for the use, while awaiting employment of any passenger carrying or motor propelled vehicle.

TAXICAB: Every automobile or motor propelled vehicle of a distinctive color or where the driver's seat is separated from the passenger's compartment by a glass partition, or of public appearance, such as is in common usage in this country for taxicabs, or equipped with a taximeter, used for the transportation of passengers for hire over the public streets of the City, and not over a defined route, irrespective of whether the operations extend beyond the boundary limits of the City, at rates for distance traveled or for waiting time, or for both, and the vehicle is routed under the direction of the passenger or of the person hiring the same.

TAXIMETER: A mechanical instrument or device by which the charge for hire of a passenger carrying vehicle is mechanically calculated, either for distance traveled or for waiting time, or for both, and upon which the charges shall be indicated by means of figures.

TRAFFIC AUTHORITY: The Chief of Police. (Ord. 283, 8-16-1945)

The City Council, in determining whether or not public convenience and necessity exists in the case of any application for the permit required by Section 4-4-9 of this Chapter, may take into consideration any and all facts and conditions which the Council may deem pertinent or proper, including, but not limited to, a consideration of:

A. The financial responsibility of the applicant;

B. The effect of the granting of the permit applied for on the businesses and operations of prior permittees, then operating;

C. Whether or not prior permittees, then operating are: 1) under efficient management earning a fair and reasonable return on their capital devoted to the service; and 2) under normal conditions adequately serving the public;

D. The applicant complies with the minimum standards as prescribed by the City Council, and other information as the traffic authority may require. (Ord. 826, 12-4-1973)

The City Council shall have the power to grant or deny any or all the permits required or authorized by this Chapter when, in the exercise of reasonable discretion, it has determined that the applicant has or has not complied with all the provisions of this Chapter relating to the granting of the permits. (Ord. 283, 8-16-1945)

The permit required by Section 4-4-9 of this Chapter shall entitle the holder thereof to obtain a license to engage in the business described in the permit from the City Council upon the payment of the license fee therefor. The licensing authority shall issue to the holder of the permit a license setting forth the kind of transportation for which the license is issued and the year when issued. The permit shall be filed with the City Clerk. (Ord. 826, 12-4-1973; amd. Ord. 1127, 11-15-1988)

All permits issued under the provisions of this Chapter shall be for a period not to exceed one year. All these permits shall expire upon December 31 of each year at midnight, with the exception of the operation permit which shall remain in effect until revoked or suspended by the City Council; provided, however, that all permits issued for street stands, except those issued upon the written consent of a person operating a hotel which may be renewed yearly, shall remain in full force and effect until the same shall be cancelled, either by the City Council or traffic authority, or upon the request of the permittee, or the person who has given the written consent to use the stand has notified the City Council that the permission has been withdrawn. (Ord. 826, 12-4-1973)

At the time of the issuance of any permit under this Chapter to operate within the City any of the vehicles defined in Section 4-4-1 of this Chapter, the permittee shall pay the license fee required by Section 4-2-40 of this Title. (Ord. 283, 8-16-1945; amd. Ord. 1252, 4-9-1996)

A. Evidence Of Insurance: Before any permit required by Section 4-4-9 of this Chapter is issued for any vehicle defined in Section 4-4-1 of this Chapter, the owner shall be required to file with the City and thereafter keep in full force and effect evidence of insurance. Evidence of insurance shall consist of one of the following:

1. A policy of insurance or a certificate of insurance in such form as the City Attorney may deem proper, and executed by an insurance company approved by the City Manager, insuring the public against any loss or damage that may result to any person or property from the operation of the vehicles; provided, that the minimum amount of recovery in the policy of insurance specified shall be not less than the following sums:

Personal injury - $100,000.00 each person and $300,000.00 each occurrence

Property damage - $50,000.00 each occurrence

2. File with the City Council a policy of insurance or a certificate of insurance or other document different from the document required in subsection A1 of this Section, but which document the City Council approves as providing adequate protection to the public.

3. A certificate of self-insurance issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles of the State pursuant to section 16053 of the State Vehicle Code together with such financial statements and certificates of insurance that are necessary to establish to the City Council's satisfaction reasonable ability to respond to the minimum recoveries heretofore required for permittee to carry insurance. Such certificates and financial statements when approved by the City Council shall constitute compliance with the requirements of this Section.

4. File with the Police Chief a document or documents which establishes to the satisfaction of the Police Chief that the permittee is licensed in another jurisdiction and that said other jurisdiction's requirements will assure that the permittee is adequately insured.

B. Compliance Required: It is unlawful for any permittee to operate or cause to be operated any vehicle without providing one of the protections required by subsections A1 through A4 of this Section. (Ord. 1043, 1-4-1983)

The City Council and also the traffic authority shall have the authority to adopt and promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the service and safety of the operation of the vehicles mentioned in this Chapter. (Ord. 283, 8-16-1945)

It is unlawful for any person to operate or cause to be operated any of the vehicles defined in Section 4-4-1 of this Chapter without having first obtained a permit from the City Council in writing so to do as provided in this Chapter; provided, however, that no such permit shall be required for the operation of any vehicle which is being operated in accordance with the terms and conditions of a franchise granted by the City Council to the operator of the vehicle. (Ord. 826, 12-4-1973)

A. Required: No person shall drive any of the vehicles defined in Section 4-4-1 of this Chapter and operated from a station within the City without having first obtained a written driver's permit from the traffic authority of the City, and no person shall drive any such vehicle operated from a station outside the City without having in his possession a written driver's permit from the traffic authority of the City from which the vehicle is dispatched. (Ord. 652, 5-16-1966)

B. Application: Applicants for the permit to drive any of the vehicles defined in Section 4-4-1 of this Chapter shall file with the traffic authority an application upon forms furnished by the City containing the information required to meet the minimum standards as prescribed by the City Council, and other information as the traffic authority may require. (Ord. 826, 12-4-1973)

C. Qualifications: A driver's permit shall be issued by the traffic authority only after the applicant has been fingerprinted and investigation has failed to disclose him to be an unfit or improper person to operate an automobile for hire. A permit shall not be issued to any person under the age of twenty one (21) years; nor shall a permit be issued except to a citizen of the United States or to one who has declared his intention to become a citizen. (Ord. 652, 5-16-1966)

D. Issuance: Application for a driver's permit shall be processed upon payment to the City of a processing fee for the first application by any applicant and for each application for renewal. Each successful applicant shall be issued an identification card which he shall have in his immediate possession while in charge of or driving a taxicab. (Ord. 1252, 4-9-1996)

E. Exceptions: Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections A, B and D of this Section, the Chief of Police may waive the requirements for a driver's permit in the City, provided he finds that the permittee is duly licensed by another city in the County of Los Angeles and that the requirements of such other city are adequate to ensure that no unfit or improper person is licensed to operate an automobile for hire. The Chief of Police may prescribe an annual fee for such waiver which said fee shall be paid to the City. (Ord. 1024, 6-1-1982)

A. Permit Required: No vehicle, as defined by Section 4-4-1 of this Chapter, shall be operated within the City limits without a vehicle permit. This permit shall be issued annually upon completion of the inspection of the vehicle and shall be nontransferable to any new or replacement vehicle. This permit shall be issued by the traffic authority.

B. Exceptions: Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections A, C and D of this Section, the Chief of Police may waive the requirements for a vehicle permit in the City, provided he finds that the vehicle is duly licensed by another city in the County of Los Angeles and that the inspection procedure of such other city is adequate to ensure the safety of the vehicle being operated in the City. The Chief of Police may prescribe an annual fee for such waiver which said fee shall be paid to the City Treasurer.

C. Application: Applicants for a vehicle permit shall file with the traffic authority an application upon forms furnished by the City, containing the information prescribed by the City Council, and other information as the traffic authority may require. (Ord. 826, 12-4-1973)

D. Issuance: Application for a vehicle permit shall be processed upon payment to the City of an annual inspection fee. Each applicant shall be issued a vehicle permit upon successful completion of an inspection of the vehicle. The permit shall be posted in a conspicuous place on the rear bumper, driver's side of the vehicle. (Ord. 1252, 4-9-1996)

A. Adoption: No taxicab permit shall be issued to any person until a standard, distinctive and uniform color scheme, name, monogram or insignia has been adopted by the applicant and approved by the City Council or traffic authority, which designates the owner of the vehicle.

B. Conflict Or Imitation: No permit shall be issued to any person whose color scheme, name, monogram or insignia to be used on such cars shall be in conflict with, or imitate any color scheme, monogram, name or insignia used by another concern operating within the City in such a manner as to be misleading or tend to deceive or defraud the public. (Ord. 406, 5-14-1952)

A. Required; Exception: Unless the owner or operator is permitted in writing by the City Council or traffic authority to post a schedule of fares in lieu of a taximeter, it is unlawful for any owner operating any taxicab or vehicle for hire under the provisions of this Chapter to operate the vehicle, unless it is equipped with a taximeter of such type and design as may be approved by the City Council or traffic authority.

B. Accuracy Requirements: It shall be the duty of every owner using any taximeter to at all times keep the meter accurate. The meter shall be subject to inspection from time to time, and the City Council or any inspector of the traffic authority or peace officer is authorized at his instance, or upon the complaint of any person, to investigate the taximeter, and upon the discovery of an inaccuracy of the taximeter, to remove or cause to be removed any such vehicle equipped with the taximeter from the streets of the City, until the taximeter has been correctly adjusted.

C. Charges: All taxicabs and vehicles required to have taximeters under the provisions of this Chapter must base their charges on taximeters. All taximeters shall be placed so that the reading dial showing the amount to be charged shall be well lighted and readily discernible by the passenger riding in the taxicab.

D. Operation: It is unlawful for any driver of a taxicab or vehicle for hire while carrying passengers to display the flag attached to the taximeter in such a position as to denote that the taxicab or vehicle is not employed, or to throw the flag of the taximeter in a recording position when such cab or vehicle is not actually employed, or to fail to throw the flag of the taximeter in a nonrecording position at the termination of each and every service. (Ord. 283, 8-16-1945)

A. Issuance Of Receipt Upon Request: It is unlawful for the operator of any taxicab or vehicle for hire upon receiving full payment for a fare as indicated by the taximeter or schedule of fares, when the schedule is permitted in lieu of taximeter, to refuse to give a receipt upon the request of any passenger making the payment.

B. Failure To Pay Fare: It is unlawful for any person to refuse to pay the legal fare of any of the vehicles mentioned in this Chapter after having hired the same. Any person who shall hire the vehicle with the intent to defraud the person from whom it is hired shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. (Ord. 283, 8-16-1945)

It is unlawful for the owner, driver or operator of a vehicle operating under one classification as defined in this Chapter to transfer the same to or use the same in another classification, unless and until the public convenience and necessity shall have been established so to do as set forth in this Chapter. (Ord. 283, 8-16-1945)

No vehicle as described in Section 4-4-1 of this Chapter for which a permit has been issued shall be operated by anyone but the owner thereof or an employee of the owner. It is unlawful for the owner or any driver of the vehicles to enter into any contract, agreement or understanding between themselves, by the terms of which the driver pays to or for the account of the owner a fixed or determinable sum for the use of the vehicles. (Ord. 283, 8-16-1945)

A. Application: The permit authorized by subsection B of this Section shall not be granted except upon the written application of the person desiring a street stand, filed with the traffic authority, to include the minimum standards as prescribed by the City Council, and other information as the traffic authority may require. (Ord. 826, 12-4-1973)

B. Issuance: Permits may be issued as provided in this Section by the City Council or traffic authority to the owners of the vehicles defined in Section 4-4-1 of this Chapter, allowing any such vehicles while awaiting employment to stand at certain designated places upon the streets of the City; provided, however, that nothing contained in this Section shall authorize the establishing of a stand at any place in the City where the standing of vehicles is prohibited by law. (Ord. 283, 8-16-1945)

A. Operation From Stand Required: It is unlawful for an automobile for hire, vehicle for hire, sightseeing automobile or a taxicab to be operated from any place except a stand granted by the City Council or traffic authority in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter, or from a private or public garage or parking space on private property.

B. Hotel Stands: In front of any building used for hotel purposes containing more than one hundred (100) guest rooms, stand permits may be issued on the basis of one vehicle for every one hundred (100) guest rooms, or a major fraction thereof; provided, however, that none of such vehicles shall be permitted to stand within a distance of fifteen feet (15') on either side of a line drawn from the center of the entrance of the building and at right angles to the street upon which the entrance is located.

C. Block Stands: Except as otherwise provided in this Section, not more than three (3) vehicles shall be permitted to stand on any one side of a street within the limits of any one block having a frontage of five hundred feet (500') or more, nor shall more than two (2) such vehicles be permitted to stand upon any one side of the street within the block having a frontage of less than five hundred feet (500'); provided, however, that no permit shall be issued for any stand to be located within fifty feet (50') of another such stand on the same side of any street; provided, further, however, that the City Council or traffic authority may, after exercising reasonable discretion, grant from time to time renewals or extensions of permits for stands existing upon the effective date hereof.

D. Stand Near Public Transportation System: In addition to the number of cabs that may be permitted to stand upon the street within the limits of any block as provided in subsection A of this Section, the City Council or traffic authority may grant permission to a cab owner or company who has a stand upon the public street at the station of any steam, interurban or bus transportation system, for additional cabs at the stand located in front of or along the side of the steam, interurban or bus transportation system as may be necessary to meet the needs of the traveling public; provided, however, that the consent of the owner or operator of the steam, interurban or bus transportation system is first obtained by the cab company for the additional cabs.

E. Assigned Stand: It is unlawful for the owner or driver of any of the vehicles defined in Section 4-4-1 of this Chapter to stand or cause or permit the vehicle to stand while awaiting employment at any place other than a stand designated by the City Council or traffic authority and assigned to the owner of the vehicle.

F. Period Of Occupancy: All stands may be occupied for the full period of twenty four (24) hours.

G. Leaving Vehicle Unattended In Stand: It is unlawful for the owner or driver of any of the vehicles defined in Section 4-4-1 of this Chapter to leave the vehicles unattended in a stand for a period of time longer than three (3) minutes. (Ord. 283, 8-16-1945)

A. Sign Display: Every vehicle used for carrying passengers for hire while standing upon any street in the City awaiting employment may display a sign with the words thereon "For Hire". The sign shall be of metal or other material approved by the traffic authority, and of a uniform size of six inches by nine inches (6" x 9"). Every vehicle used for carrying passengers for sightseeing purposes while standing upon any street in the City awaiting employment may display a sign with the words thereon "Sightseeing Bus," giving route, points visited or destination. Every such sign shall be of metal or of other material approved by the traffic authority and of a uniform size of eight inches by twenty four inches (8" x 24"). The outer surface of all signs specified in this Section shall be painted, printed or enameled a dark color and the letters and figures appearing thereon shall be white.

B. Information Card Display: Every taxicab and vehicle for hire used for carrying passengers for hire shall display in the rear of the driver's seat and in the passenger's compartment and in full view of the passengers a card not less than two inches by four inches (2" x 4"), nor more than two and one-half inches by five inches (21/2" x 5"), which shall have printed thereon the owner's name or the corporate or fictitious name under which the owner operates and the business address and telephone number of the owner, together with the rates to be charged for the vehicle.

C. Identification Display: Every taxicab or vehicle for hire shall have conspicuously displayed thereon at one or more locations on the outside thereof the name of the owner or the corporate or fictitious name under which the owner operates, together with the company's telephone number and the cab or vehicle number.

D. Electrically Lighted Vacant Signs: Every taxicab or vehicle for hire may display an electrically lighted vacant sign attached to the top of the cab. Every such sign shall not be more than two and one-half inches high by nine inches (21/2" x 9") in length.

E. Prohibited Sign Display: It is unlawful to display any signs other than those provided in this Chapter on any taxicab, vehicle for hire or a vehicle carrying passengers for sightseeing purposes, without first obtaining the written permission of the City Council or traffic authority. (Ord. 283, 8-16-1945)

Any driver employed to carry passengers to a definite point shall take the most direct route possible that will carry the passengers safely, lawfully and expeditiously to their destination. (Ord. 283, 8-16-1945)

When a taxicab or vehicle for hire is engaged, the occupants shall have the exclusive right to the full and free use of the passenger compartment, and it is unlawful for the owner or driver of the taxicab to solicit or carry additional passengers therein. (Ord. 283, 8-16-1945)

It is unlawful for any owner, driver or agent soliciting patronage for any of the vehicles mentioned in this Chapter to misrepresent by word, sign, hat band, insignia or badge the true identity of the vehicle for which the patronage is sought. (Ord. 283, 8-16-1945)

A. From the time of the revocation or during the suspension of any permit granted under the provisions of this Chapter, it is unlawful for any person whose permit is suspended or revoked to drive, operate or to be in charge of any of the vehicles mentioned in this Chapter, or to cause or to permit the vehicles on which the permit has been suspended or revoked to engage in the several classes of business mentioned in this Chapter, or to allow the vehicle to stand while awaiting employment at a location designated in the suspended or revoked permit or at any other location within the City, until a new permit has been procured or until the period of suspension has expired.

B. Provided, however, that the traffic authority may, and he is hereby authorized to suspend any of the permits mentioned in this Chapter when the permittee has not complied with the provisions of this Chapter, or has been arrested for, or convicted of, the commission of a felony, or has been arrested for, or convicted of, reckless driving, pandering, or use, sale, possession, furnishing information regarding or transportation of narcotics or intoxicating liquors, or for assault or battery, or has charged rates other than those which the permittee has on file with the City Council, or violated any of the rules and regulations of the City Council or traffic authority pertaining to the operation of, and the extent, character and quality of the services of taxicabs, automobiles for hire and sightseeing automobiles. The action of the traffic authority in suspending any of the permits is to be subject to the ratification and approval of the City Council at any of its meetings held subsequent to the action of the traffic authority, but not later than twenty one (21) days thereafter. (Ord. 283, 8-16-1945)