Red Bluff Municipal Code Art. III Taxicab Permits

No person owning or leasing a taxicab shall operate it or cause or permit it to be operated within the corporate limits of the city unless he or she shall hold a current, valid, unsuspended and unrevoked permit, known as a vehicle permit, for the vehicle as provided in this article.

(`61 Code, § 22.13) (Ord. 303, passed 4-17-1956)

(A) A taxicab permit shall be granted in writing by the City Council upon application in writing and upon a satisfactory showing by the applicant that he or she and his or her taxicab or taxicabs are possessed of the following qualifications, and that public convenience and necessity, as hereinafter in this section specified, make expedient the operation of his or her taxicab or taxicabs.

(B) The taxicab must meet all requirements of the Vehicle Code of the state in regard to equipment and mechanical condition.

(C) The taxicab must have the proper license as required by the laws of the state.

(D) The taxicab must be painted a distinctive color or colors so that it will not be confused with taxicabs owned or leased by other persons; the name of the owner or lessee and the permit number of the taxicab must appear on the front door of each side in letters at least four inches high. Each permittee who holds more than one taxicab permit may have one taxicab for emergency use only which need not comply with this section concerning painting.

(E) The owner or lessee must be a financially responsible person.

(F) The owner or lessee of the taxicab must secure his or her ability to answer to any claim for damage to person or property which may arise against him or her by reason of the operation of the vehicle to the following extent:

(1) For personal injury to one person: $100,000.

(2) For personal injury to more than one person in an accident: $300,000.

(3) For property damage: $25,000.

(4) The security may be by an insurance policy or by surety bond issued by a licensed bonding corporation. In either case, the form of the security and the reliability of the company issuing it must meet with the approval of the City Council.

(G) (1) It must appear that the public convenience and necessity require the operation of the taxicab. To comply with this provision, the applicant must show that vehicles of the same kind already holding taxicab permits under this article are inadequate in number, unsatisfactory in service or otherwise unable to provide transportation for hire commensurate with the demand for the transportation in the city.

(2) If any taxicab is required to obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the Public Utilities Commission of the state, this provision shall not apply to the vehicle while operating according to the certificate.

(`61 Code, § 22.14) (Ord. 303, passed 4-17-1956; Am. Ord. 452, passed 7-6-1965; Am. Ord. 461, passed 6-21-1966; Am. Ord. 494, passed 7-22-1969)

(A) The taxicab permit required by this article may be revoked or suspended by the City Council, as its sound and reasonable discretion may determine if it shall appear to the City Council that any of the following conditions exist:

(1) Any of the qualifications required for the granting of the taxicab permit are no longer met by permittee or his or her vehicle; (Vehicle permits shall not be suspended or revoked on the ground that public convenience or necessity no longer require the operation of the vehicle.)

(2) The permittee has been convicted of any violation or restriction imposed upon him or her as owner or lessee under this chapter or that he or she has become bankrupt; or

(3) For any other reasonable cause the permittee’s vehicle has ceased to be a fit and proper vehicle to be operated as a taxicab or automobile for hire.

(B) For the purpose of ascertaining whether any cause exists for the suspension or revocation of a taxicab permit under this section, the Chief of Police may, and on direction of the City Council or upon complaint shall, cause strict inquiry to be made into the conduct of the permittee, the sufficiency and validity of his or her security and the condition of his or her taxicabs.

(`61 Code, § 22.15) (Ord. 303, passed 4-17-1956)

Any taxicab permit issued under this article shall have a duration of one year. Unless suspended or revoked, it shall be renewed from year to year upon application for renewal.

(`61 Code, § 22.16) (Ord. 303, passed 4-17-1956)

Taxicab permits shall be numbered consecutively and each taxicab shall bear the number of the permit issued for it, as provided in § 22.14.

(`61 Code, § 22.17) (Ord. 303, passed 4-17-1956)

The holder of a taxicab permit may substitute one vehicle for another under the permit upon proof to the Chief of Police that the taxicab for which the permit was issued will no longer be operated as a taxicab and that the new vehicle meets the requirements of this article.

(`61 Code, § 22.18) (Ord. 303, passed 4-17-1956)

Every permittee under this article shall pay into the city treasury an annual license fee of $30 for the first taxicab and $15 for each additional taxicab owned or leased by the same person, and no taxicab permit issued under the provisions of this article shall be valid until the Director of Finance shall endorse thereon an acknowledgment of the payment of the license fee for the current year.

(`61 Code, § 22.19) (Ord. 303, passed 4-17-1956)