[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Gibbsboro
as Sections 7-7 and 7-8 of the Revised General Ordinances (Ch. 162 of the
1982 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
No taxicab shall be operated within the Borough of Gibbsboro unless
both the taxicab and the driver are licensed.
A. Owner. Applications for an owner's license shall be made
to the Chief of Police and shall set forth, in addition to general data, the
number of vehicles proposed to be operated and any proposed depots or terminals.
Proof of insurance shall be submitted in amounts of not less than $100,000
to satisfy all claims for damages by reason of bodily injury to or the death
of any one person resulting from an accident, and a sum of not less than $300,000
to satisfy all claims for damages by reason of bodily injuries to or the death
of all persons on account of any such accident by reason of the ownership,
operation, maintenance or use of such taxi upon any public street; and conditioned
for the payment of a sum not less than $50,000 to satisfy any claim for damages
to property of any one person resulting from an accident, and a sum not less
than $50,000 to satisfy all claims for damages to property of all persons
on account of any such accident by reason of the ownership, operation, maintenance
or use of such taxi upon any public street.
[Amended 5-18-1982 by Ord. No. 82-2]
B. Operator. Application for a driver's license shall include
such information as is calculated to reveal the applicant's general character,
responsibility and driving ability. Two photographs shall be required.
Applicants for both types of licenses shall be investigated by the Police
Department, which shall also inspect vehicles proposed to be used as cabs.
The Chief of Police shall report to the Council, which shall then proceed
to grant or deny the license on a consideration of the public convenience,
necessity, health and welfare.
The annual fee for an owner's license shall be $15 per cab. The annual
fee for a driver's license shall be $3.
The Council may, by resolution, adopt, and from time to time alter and
amend, rules and regulations not inconsistent with law or this chapter for
the safe and efficient operation of taxicabs.
No autobus or buses, commonly called "jitneys," shall be operated in
any of the public streets or places of the Borough unless the owner or his
or its lessee (who shall, for the purpose of this chapter, be construed as
the owner) operating such jitneys shall have procured a license in the manner
herein provided and shall have paid the fee therefor.
Any person desiring to operate a jitney in, over and through the public
streets or places of the Borough shall make an application in writing to the
Council, which application shall state the following information:
A. Name of the owner or person intending to operate such
jitney.
B. Residence and business address of such applicant.
C. The number of jitneys which the applicant intends to
operate within the Borough.
D. The seating capacity of each such jitney.
E. The streets, avenues and public places upon which the
jitney will be operated.
F. An agreement to comply with the requirements contained
in this chapter or any supplement thereto or amendment thereof.
Each application shall be accompanied by a license fee of $25 for each
jitney, per year.
The Council shall consider and pass upon the application and, if in
its judgment it is proper for the good government, order and protection of
persons and property and for the preservation of the public health and safety
of the Borough, may refuse the application or may grant the same with or without
modifications as to the number of jitneys to be operated within the Borough
and the route or the routes to be traveled. Upon granting the application,
a license shall be issued to the applicant, signed by the Borough Clerk, which
license shall set forth the date of application therefor and the date of the
granting of the license by the Borough Council and the seating capacity of
the jitney. Each license granted shall expire on December 31 of the year in
which it is issued. The license may be renewed to the same licensee without
further application upon the payment of the license fee herein provided. In
case of an application granted after the first day of July in any year, the
license fee to be paid for the remainder of the year shall be 1/2 of the yearly
rates.
No license shall become effective or remain in force and no operation
of any jitney under such license shall be permitted until the owner shall
have filed with the Borough Clerk an insurance policy written by a company
duly authorized and licensed to transact business under the insurance laws
of the State of New Jersey, in a sum of not less than $100,000, insuring the
owner against loss from liability imposed by law upon the jitney owner for
damages on account of bodily injury or death or property damages suffered
by any one person or in the amount of $300,000 for more than one person as
a result of the ownership or operation or use of such jitney; and providing
for the payment of any final judgment to be recovered by any person against
the owner or operator of any such jitney growing out of the ownership, operation
or use of such jitney; and further providing that such insurance and the conditions
of such policy shall be for the benefit of every person suffering loss, damage
or injury as aforesaid.
Every person operating any jitney or jitneys within the Borough shall
operate the same over a route or routes set forth in their application, and
over no other route or routes, except pursuant to permission of the Borough
Council, evidenced by a resolution duly adopted; provided, however, that in
case any portion of any route shall be temporarily obstructed or closed to
traffic, the jitney or jitneys may be operated upon such other streets or
public places as directed by the Chief of Police as to make a detour to the
nearest open portion of the route.
Every person operating a jitney or jitneys within the Borough shall,
with the application, file with the Borough Clerk a schedule showing the regular
stopping places for taking on or letting off passengers within the Borough;
a schedule showing the time when jitney or jitneys will arrive at such stopping
points; a statement of the entire route, both within and out of the Borough
to be traveled by such jitney or jitneys; and a schedule showing the time
when such jitney or jitneys will leave their respective terminuses of each
route. The aforesaid schedule will be subject to change due to unforeseen
causes and reasonable delays, but in no case shall any jitney leave any fixed
stopping place before the time shown by the schedule. A copy of the time schedule
shall be posted in a conspicuous place on each jitney. The time schedule may
be changed upon 10 days' notice in writing, which notice shall be filed with
the Borough Clerk at least 10 days before such proposed change will take effect
and shall also, within the same time, be published by the licensee in a newspaper
circulating in the Borough.
There shall also be filed, with the application, a schedule of fares
proposed to be charged between the various points upon the routes of the jitney,
which fares shall not be increased as long as the permit shall be in force
without the consent of the Borough Council by the passage of a resolution
to that effect. There shall be posted in a conspicuous place in each jitney
a statement of the rates of fare between the various points upon the routes
of each jitney.
A. Every jitney of sufficient size operated within the Borough
shall be equipped with pneumatic tires and shall have one or more lights on
the inside, which shall be kept lighted at all times from one hour after sunset
until daylight. Every jitney shall have a door at the rear thereof, so that
the same can be opened from the inside in case of emergency.
B. Every jitney of sufficient size operated within the Borough
shall carry on the inside thereof, in a rack or other place where it can be
readily procured by the passengers, an ax for use in case of emergency.
C. No driver of a jitney shall talk to or carry on a conversation
with the passengers or any other person, except to answer necessary questions.
D. Every jitney shall be operated carefully and within the
speed limits provided for by law and shall be equipped with chains or other
devices approved by the Chief of Police to prevent skidding when necessary
because of ice, snow or slippery conditions of the street.
E. No jitney shall be operated within the Borough which
shall carry more passengers than the number stated in the application for
the license for the jitney, nor shall any passenger be permitted to stand
on the steps of a jitney when it is in motion.
The penalty for violation of any provision of this chapter shall be as set forth in Chapter
1, Article
I, General Penalty.