Port Hueneme Municipal Code Part H Taxicabs

For the purpose of this Part, certain words and phrases shall be construed as herein set forth, unless it is apparent from the context that a different meaning is intended.

(a) "Certificate" is a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity issued pursuant to this Part.

(b) "Taxicab" is 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, and irrespective of whether the operation extends beyond the boundary limits of the City, excepting vehicles of Transportation Companies as herein defined.

(c) "Transportation Company" means "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 said Act.

No person shall engage in the business of providing taxicab service or of operating a taxicab upon any public street within the City without having obtained a Certificate so to do.

Any person desiring to obtain a Certificate shall pay a filing and processing fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) plus a fee for fingerprinting as set by the applicable government agency contemporaneously with the filing of a verified application for said Certificate. Said application shall set forth:

(a) The name and address of the applicant, and if the same be a corporation, the names of its principal officers, or if the same be a partnership, association, or fictitious company, the names of the partners or persons comprising the association or company, with the address of each.

(b) A complete schedule of the fares or rates proposed to be charged.

(c) A description of every motor vehicle which is proposed for certificated use, giving:

(1) Trade name;

(2) Motor and serial number;

(3) State license number;

(4) Seating capacity; and

(5) Body style.

(d) The street numbers and exact locations of the places where the applicant proposes to establish taxi stands.

(e) The name of the legal and registered owner of each such vehicle.

(f) The distinctive color scheme, name, monogram, or insignia which shall be used on such taxicabs.

(g) If any proposed stand is in the public street, said application shall be accompanied by a written consent thereto of all the occupants of the ground floor of any building or lot in front of which such taxicab stand is to be located, and for twenty-five (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.

Upon receipt of any application referred to in Section 5146, the City Clerk shall set a time, not less than ten (10) nor more than thirty (30) days thereafter for the hearing of the said application before the Council and shall give written notice of the time and place of such hearing to the applicant by mail at the address set out in such application.

At the time set for the hearing of such application, the Council shall examine the applicant and all persons interested in the matter set forth in said application and shall determine whether or not the public interest, convenience and necessity require the issuance of the certificate applied for, and if it be found by the Council that the public interest, convenience and necessity require the issuance of the certificate applied for, it shall order the City Clerk to issue a certificate in accordance with said application, subject to the filing and approval of an undertaking as hereinafter provided, and subject to such conditions as may be imposed by said resolution including, but not limited to, rates.

Any of the following reasons shall be sufficient for denial of said certificate:

(a) That the application is not in the form and does not contain the information required to be contained therein by this Part; or

(b) That the vehicles described therein are inadequate or unsafe for the purposes for which they are to be used; or

(c) That the color scheme, name, monogram, or insignia to be used upon such automobiles would be in conflict with or imitate any other certificate; or

(d) That the location of the stand, as requested, would congest or interfere with travel on any public street, or that the proposed stand is within three hundred (300) feet of any other taxi stand theretofore fixed by the Council on the same street; or

(e) That if the Council finds that there are a sufficient number of taxicabs and automobiles for hire in the City to fully serve the public, that the granting of more certificates would unduly congest the traffic and interfere with the free use of the public streets by the public and that the public interest, convenience and necessity do not require the issuance of such certificate.

Before a certificate shall be issued by the City Clerk, the applicant to whom a certificate shall have been ordered to be issued shall deliver to the City Clerk a certificate of insurance, executed by a company duly authorized under the laws of the State to do an insurance business, by the provisions of which policy the said company promises and undertakes to pay in full all claims for damages to persons or property resulting from the operation of the automobile referred to in said application, provided that the maximum amount for which liability shall be assumed for injury or death to one (1) person in any one (1) accident shall be in minimum amounts set by the City Attorney.

Any certificate granted under the provisions of this Part may be revoked by the Council either as a whole or as to any part described therein, or as to the right to use any distinctive color, monogram, or insignia, after five (5) days notice to the certificate holder, requiring him to appear at a certain time and place to show cause why said certificate should not be revoked for any of the following reasons:

(a) That the insurance required by Section 5150 has not been given or has been withdrawn or lapsed for any reason.

(b) For the nonpayment to the City of any license fee required by this Code.

(c) For failure to observe any of the rules and regulations or provisions set out in this Part or in the certificate.

(d) For the violation of any applicable law by any certificate holder, operator or driver of any taxicab covered by such certificate.

(e) For the failure to maintain satisfactory service to the public.

(f) For any cause which in the opinion of the Council makes it contrary to the public interest, convenience and necessity for the certificate or permit to be continued.

In the event that any certificate holder desires to change his schedule of rates and charges or the color scheme, name, monogram or insignia used on such taxicab, or to substitute any vehicle for and in place of the vehicle described in the application, or to increase or decrease the number of vehicles used by him as taxicabs, he shall first make application for permission to do so from the Council, which permission shall be granted if, in the discretion of the Council, it deems the public interest, necessity and convenience will be served by such change, and if the certificate holder has complied with all provisions of this Part.

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

The following rules and regulations shall be observed by all persons operating taxicab:

(a) Distinctive Hat. Each person driving 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 certificate has been issued.

(b) Standing. No taxicab driver shall, when soliciting passengers, remain standing upon any public street except for loading and unloading passengers, and then not for a period of more than five (5) minutes, except at an approved taxi stand.

(c) Consent of Passenger. No operator, driver or owner of any taxicab shall solicit or carry any passenger after such taxicab has been engaged or while in use for another passenger without the consent of the passenger first engaging the same having been obtained. A passenger or passengers engaging such taxicab shall have the exclusive right to full and free use of the passenger compartment and the whole thereof if he desires the same.

(d) Safe, Direct Carriage. The driver of any taxicab shall carry passengers safely and expeditiously to their destination by the most direct and accessible route.

(e) Prepaying License Fee. No person shall operate any taxicab without prepaying a business license fee required by this Code.

(f) Mechanical Conditions. All taxicabs shall be kept in good mechanical condition.

(g) Driver's License and Permit. No person shall drive a taxicab in the City without first having obtained a California Chauffeur's license and a City taxicab driver's permit, issued in writing by the Police Chief of the City as in this Part provided.

(h) Posting Necessary Information. Every taxicab shall have posted in the passenger's compartment a schedule of rates and charges for the hire of said vehicle; a card bearing the driver's name and address; the owner's name, address and telephone number, the cab number, and the City Police Department phone number, all contained in a small container or holder at least three to four inches in size, and placed in a conspicuous place in the passenger compartment.

(i) Driver Remain Near Cab. The driver of a taxicab shall remain immediately adjacent to said taxicab while parked at any approved taxi stand.

(j) Charge. No charge shall be made by any operator or owner of a taxicab in excess of the approved rates.

(k) Clean Compartment. No taxicab shall be operated unless the passenger compartment is kept clean and in sanitary condition.

(l) Fire Extinguisher. Every taxicab shall be equipped at all times with a standard type of fire extinguisher in operating condition.

No person shall operate a taxicab not licensed pursuant hereto.

No person shall drive a taxicab in the City without having a valid chauffeur's license issued by the State.

Before a driver's permit is granted to any applicant, said applicant shall present himself to the Police Department, furnish an acceptable photograph and be fingerprinted, and such photographs and fingerprints shall be filed with the permanent records of said Police Department.

Upon obtaining said permit, said driver or operator shall at all times while operating a taxicab have in his possession an identification card furnished to him by the Police Chief, which shall have printed thereon the name of said driver or operator, his business address and telephone, his permit number, and which shall bear his fingerprint and photograph.

The Police Chief may revoke any such driver's permit so issued for any violation of the provisions of this Part by the holder of such permit or for the existence of any facts which would have been a good reason for denying such permit when applied for, whether such state of facts existed at the time application was made for such permit or came into existence thereafter.

In the event of a refusal or revocation of any driver's permit by the Police Chief, said applicant or permittee may appeal from said decision to the Council in the time and manner set forth in Article I, Chapter 4.

No certificate or permit issued under the terms of this Part shall be transferable either by contract or operation of law without the permission of the City having been first obtained, and any such attempted transfer shall be sufficient cause for revocation thereof.