Tehachapi Municipal Code Ch. 5.28 Taxicabs

As used in this chapter:

A. "Person" means and includes firms, individuals and corporations.

B. "Taxicab" means and includes every automobile or motor-propelled vehicle by 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 or not the operation extends beyond the city boundary, where charge for such transportation is measured in part by the distance traveled or by the time required for such transportation, or both, excepting vehicles of transportation companies, as defined in the act of the California Legislature approved May 10, 1917, and all amendments thereto.

(Ord. 260 § 1, 1960)

It is unlawful for any person to operate, or cause to be operated, any taxicab along or upon any public street in the city without first having obtained a permit in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, or without having complied with all of the provisions of this chapter.

(Ord. 260 § 2, 1960)

Any person desiring to obtain the permit referred to in Section 5.28.020 shall pay a fee of fifty dollars to the city clerk, and make application for such permit to the city council. The application shall set forth:

A. The name and address of the applicant and, if it is a corporation, the names and addresses of its principal officers; or, if it is a partnership, the names and addresses of each of the partners;

B. A description of every motor vehicle which the applicant proposes to use, including its trade name, motor and serial number, state license number, seating capacity, and body style;

C. A schedule of proposed fares;

D. The distinctive color scheme, name, monogram or insignia, if any, which applicant proposes to be used on his taxicabs;

E. Street number and exact location of the place or places where applicant proposes to stand taxicabs. If any such place is to be in a public street, the application must be accompanied by the written consent thereto of the owner of any building in front of which such stand is to be located.

(Ord. 260 § 3, 1960)

Upon receipt of an application, the city council shall fix a time for hearing thereof, not less than ten nor more than thirty days thereafter, and the city clerk shall give notice to the applicant by mail of the time so set at least five days before the hearing date, and shall, if so directed by the city council, cause notice of such hearing to be given by posting or publication, or both, for a time and in a manner as directed by the council.

(Ord. 260 § 4, 1960)

At the time set for the hearing of the application, the city council may examine the applicant and hear members of the public who wish to present their views, and shall determine whether or not the public interest, convenience and necessity require the issuance of the permit applied for; and if such determination is in the affirmative, it shall order the city clerk to issue a permit in accordance with the application, subject to the filing of insurance policies, as hereinafter provided.

(Ord. 260 § 5, 1960)

The following grounds shall be sufficient for denial of the application:

A. That the application is not in the form or does not contain the information required by Section 5.28.030;

B. That the vehicle or vehicles described in the application are inadequate or unsafe for the purposes for which they are to be used;

C. That the color scheme, name, monogram or insignia to be used upon the taxicabs in question is in conflict with or imitates or so closely resembles the color scheme, name, monogram or insignia of another permit holder as to be misleading or tend to confuse or deceive the public;

D. That the location of any cab stand, as designated in the application, will congest or interfere with travel on any public street, or is within three hundred feet of any other stand theretofore authorized;

E. That the applicant has had a prior permit revoked;

F. If the city council determines that there are a sufficient number of taxicabs and automobiles for hire in the city to adequately serve the public, or that the granting of additional permits would 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 such permit;

G. That the applicant's proposed rate schedule is so excessively low that, in the council's judgment, it would result either in an unprofitable operation, or would be unfair to other permittees.

(Ord. 260 § 6, 1960)

During the course of the hearing upon an application, the applicant may, with the council's consent, amend or supplement it, and without further notice the council may act upon the application as amended or supplemented.

(Ord. 260 § 7, 1960)

Before a permit shall be issued, the applicant shall deliver to the city clerk a policy or policies of insurance, and a certificate(s) showing the paid up existence of insurance, providing for the payment of all liability imposed upon the owner or operator of any taxicab affected by the permit for damages to person or property, in a combined single limit insurance policy issued in standard form by a company authorized and qualified to do business in the state in an amount not less than three hundred thousand dollars per occurrence. Such certificate(s) of insurance shall state that the insurance hereby required is in effect and may not be canceled or modified except on at least thirty days prior written notice to the city. Such insurance policies shall be approved by the city council before the permit is issued.

(Ord. 92-04-604 § 1, 1992: Ord. 260 § 8, 1960)

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

(Ord. 260 § 18, 1960)

Any permit granted under the provisions of this chapter may be revoked by the city council, 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 to appear at a certain time and place and show cause why the permit should not be revoked for any of the following reasons:

A. The undertaking provided for in Section 5.28.080 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 city 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, or failure to keep any vehicle 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 city council, makes it contrary to the public interest, convenience and necessity for the permit to be continued.

(Ord. 260 § 16, 1960)

A. It is unlawful for any person to operate a taxicab within the city without having first obtained a class C driver's license from the state and a city taxicab driver's permit, issued in writing by the chief of police.

B. Each applicant for a driver's permit shall file an application therefor with the chief of police, accompanied by a fee of fifty dollars.

C. No permit shall be issued to any driver or operator under the age of eighteen years, or to any person not a citizen of the United States, or who has not lawfully declared his intention of becoming such, or to any person who has been convicted of a felony, or 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.

D. Each applicant must demonstrate his skill and ability to operate a motor vehicle, under such conditions as the chief of police may prescribe.

E. Each applicant for a permit shall also be examined by a person designated by the chief of police as to his knowledge of the provisions of this chapter, traffic regulations, and the geography of the city, and if the result of the examination is unsatisfactory, a permit shall be refused.

F. The chief of police may refuse a permit to any person if, after investigation, it appears to him that the issuance thereof would not be compatible with the public interest and welfare.

(Ord. 92-04-604 § 2, 1992; Ord. 260 § 10(a)-(f), 1960)

A. 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.

B. Such badge and card shall be the property of the city, and must be returned to the police department upon the termination of employment in the city as an operator of a taxicab, but such badge and card must be carried on the person of such operator while employed and shown upon demand.

(Ord. 260 § 10(g) and (h), 1960)

The following rules and regulations shall be observed by all persons operating taxicabs, and it is unlawful to operate any taxicab in violation of such rules and regulations:

A. No taxicab shall remain standing upon any public street except for unloading and loading passengers, and then for a period not exceeding five minutes, except at a stand authorized by the city council. This section shall have no application to any taxicab while it is engaged by a passenger.

B. The operator of a taxicab shall carry passengers to their destinations by the most direct and accessible route, unless otherwise directed by a passenger.

C. All taxicabs shall be kept in good mechanical condition, and operated in a careful and prudent manner.

(Ord. 260 § 9, 1960)

A. In the event that any permit holder desires to change his schedule of rates and charges, or color scheme, name, monogram or insignia used on such taxicab, or 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, he shall first make application for permission to do so from the city council, which permission shall be granted if, in the discretion of the city council, it 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.

B. Application for changes, as above provided, may be heard with or without notice, as the council may specify, and may be filed without a fee if the council consents thereto. In the event notice is required, the time and manner of giving it shall be as directed by the city council. If the fee is not waived by the council, it shall be fixed in an amount not to exceed fifty dollars.

(Ord. 260 § 17, 1960)

Every taxicab shall have posted in the passenger's compartment a schedule of rates and charges for the hire of the vehicle, a copy of this chapter, also a 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 department.

(Ord. 260 § 12, 1960)

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

(Ord. 260 § 15, 1960)

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 the 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 the vehicle.

(Ord. 260 § 13, 1960)

No charge shall be made by any operator or owner of a taxicab in excess of the rates approved by the city council, and posted in the passenger compartment.

(Ord. 260 § 14, 1960)

A. 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 city council shall be the sole judge of what constitutes fraud or unfair competition under the provisions of this section.

B. Complaints to the city council of violations of subsection A of this section shall be heard upon written statements specifying the act or acts complained of, sworn to before an officer authorized to take oaths, or certified to be true under penalty of perjury.

(Ord. 260 § 11, 1960)

Any person, firm or corporation violating any provision of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punishable by a fine of not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail of Kern County, Bakersfield, California, for a period of not more than six months, or both such fine and imprisonment.

(Ord. 260 § 19, 1960)