§ 28.20

For the purposes of this article, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:

Call box stand means a place alongside a street or elsewhere where the Town Council has authorized a holder of a certificate of public convenience and necessity to install a telephone or call box for the taking of calls and the dispatching of taxicabs.

Certificate means a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the Town Council, authorizing the holder thereof to conduct a taxicab business in the Town.

Driver's license means the permission granted by the Chief of Police to a person to drive a taxicab upon the streets of the Town.

Holder means a person to whom a certificate of public convenience and necessity has been issued.

Limousine means a motor vehicle regularly engaged in the business of carrying passengers for hire, of private appearance with no distinctive markings, not equipped with a taximeter, and not operated on a fixed route.

Open stand means a public place alongside the curb of a street or elsewhere in the Town which has been designated by the Town Council as reserved exclusively for the use of taxicabs.

Rate card means a card displayed in each taxicab which contains the rates of fare then in force.

Taxicab means any vehicle, other than one regulated by the Public Utilities Commission, regularly engaged in the business of carrying passengers for hire, equipped with a taximeter, having a seating capacity of eight (8) or less persons, excluding the driver, and not operated on a fixed route.

Taximeter means a meter instrument or device attached to a taxicab which measures mechanically the distance driven and the waiting time upon which the fare is based.

(Code 1968, § 29-1)

Cross reference— Definitions and rules of construction generally, § 1.10.015.

The Chief of Police, or any member of the Police Department under direction of the Chief of Police, shall have the right, at any time after displaying proper identification, to enter into or upon any taxicab licensed under this article for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not any of the provisions of this article are being violated.

(Code 1968, § 29-18)

All persons engaged in the taxicab business in the Town operating under the provisions of this article shall render an overall service to the public desiring to use taxicabs. Holders of certificates of public convenience and necessity shall maintain a central place of business and keep the same open between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. of the following day, or as provided by resolution of the Town Council, for the purpose of receiving calls and dispatching cabs. They shall answer all calls received by them for services inside the Town as soon as they can do so, and if such services cannot be rendered within a reasonable time they shall then notify the prospective passengers how long it will be before the call can be answered and shall give the reason therefor. Any holder who shall refuse to accept a call anywhere in the Town at any time such holder has available cabs, or who shall fail or refuse to give over-all service, shall be in violation of this article and the certificate granted to such holder shall be revoked at the discretion of the Town Council.

(Code 1968, § 29-2)

(a)

Before any vehicle subject to the provisions of this article and not licensed under an owner's license in another local public entity may be used or operated as a taxicab in the Town, the owner of the vehicle shall have the vehicle, its equipment, and its taximeter inspected by an authorized representative of the Chief of Police to determine whether it complies with the requirements of this article.

(b)

Any taxicab which is found, after any such inspection, to be unsafe or in any way unsuitable for taxicab service shall be immediately ordered out of service, and before again being placed in service shall be placed in a safe and proper condition.

(c)

The Town shall not be liable for any injury or damage caused by its act or omission regarding such inspection.

(d)

The taxicab shall be kept clean and serviceable and in operable condition with respect to applicable sections of the Vehicle Code. All property of value left in any such vehicle by a passenger shall be reported by the owner thereof to the Chief of Police.

(Code 1968, § 29-3; Ord. No. 1964, § II, 1-3-94)

The use of any vehicle other than a taxicab to carry passengers for hire is unlawful and a public nuisance. Each act of carrying a passenger for hire in a prohibited vehicle shall constitute a separate violation.

(Code 1968, § 29-3.5; Ord. No. 2026, § XXI, 2-18-97)

Each taxicab shall bear proper identification including the name of the taxicab company and the number of the vehicle.

(Code 1968, § 29-4)

No driver of a taxicab shall refuse or neglect to convey any orderly person upon request, unless previously engaged or unable or prohibited by provisions of this article to do so.

(Code 1968, § 29-5)

No driver of any taxicab shall accept, take into the vehicle or transport any larger number of passengers than the rated seating capacity of the vehicle.

(Code 1968, § 29-6)

No taxicab driver shall permit any other person to occupy or ride in the taxicab, unless the person first employing the taxicab shall consent to the acceptance of additional passengers. No charge shall be made for an additional passenger, except when the additional passenger rides beyond the previous passenger's destination and then only for the additional distance so traveled.

(Code 1968, § 29-7)

Drivers of taxicabs shall not receive or discharge passengers in the roadway but shall pull up to the right- hand sidewalk as nearly as possible, or, in the absence of a sidewalk, to the extreme right-hand side of the road, and there receive or discharge passengers, except upon one-way streets where passengers may be discharged at either the right-hand or left-hand sidewalk, or side of the roadway in the absence of a sidewalk.

(Code 1968, § 29-8)

Any taxicab driver employed to transport passengers to a definite point shall take the most direct route possible that will carry the passenger to the destination safely and expeditiously.

(Code 1968, § 29-9)

No person shall refuse to pay the fare posted in the taxicab in accordance with section 28.20.370 for any of the vehicles regulated by this article after employing or hiring the same.

(Code 1968, § 29-10)

Every taxicab driver shall, if requested, give a correct receipt upon payment of fare.

(Code 1968, § 29-12)

(a)

The Police Chief or the Police Chief's designee is authorized and empowered to establish open stands in such places upon the streets of the Town as is deemed necessary for the use of taxicabs operated in the Town, which stands when so established shall be appropriately designated "Taxis Only." The Police Chief or the Police Chief's designee shall not create an open stand without taking into consideration the need for such stands by the holder of the certificate of public convenience and necessity, and the convenience to the general public. The Police Chief shall prescribe the number of taxicabs that shall be occupied by such stand. Such open stand shall be occupied by the holder only.

(b)

It shall be unlawful for the holder of a certificate of public convenience and necessity, or any driver or operator of any taxicab, to allow such taxicab to remain parked, while awaiting employment, except in a regularly established taxicab stand; provided, that taxicabs may park in any available parking space when actually engaged in loading or unloading passengers; and, that between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. of the following day, taxicabs may stop, stand or park in any place where the parking of vehicles is otherwise permitted.

(Code 1968, § 29-14)

The holder of a certificate of public convenience and necessity under this article, upon written request of the Town Council, shall deliver to the Town Council all of the holder's books and records pertaining to the operation of taxicabs for a period of twelve (12) calendar months next preceding the date of such request, for inspection by the Auditor of the Town, and unless such books and records are delivered to the Town Council within fifteen (15) days from the date of such request, all permits of such holder shall be suspended on the sixteenth day from the date of such request, until such books and records are delivered, or such permits revoked, whichever is sooner in event.

(Code 1968, § 29-16)

Secs. 28.20.085—28.20.150. - Reserved.