As used in this chapter, the following words, terms and phrases shall
have the meanings herein ascribed to them:
TAXICAB
Any vehicle offered for hire in the city and so designed and constructed
as to seat seven persons or fewer in the interior thereof.
TAXICAB LIVERY
Any establishment maintained for the purpose of receiving calls for
and dispatching taxicabs to transport fares.
TAXICAB STAND
Any space designated by the Department of Public Safety on the streets
of the city for taxicabs to park while waiting for business.
No person shall keep for hire within the limits of the city any taxicab
or maintain a taxicab livery and no person shall operate any taxicab along
any street, avenue or public place in the city without first obtaining the
licenses hereinafter provided for.
The annual fees for licenses issued under the provisions of this chapter shall be as provided in Chapter
142, Fees.
All applications for taxicab licenses shall contain the following information:
A. A brief description of the car to be operated in substantially
the same form as appears on the registration of the vehicle for which a license
is sought.
B. A certificate of inspection by a qualified mechanic stating
that the vehicle to be licensed as a taxicab is in a safe mechanical condition.
C. The vehicle owner's name, address and the registration
number of the vehicle.
D. Such other information as the Chief of Police may require.
Application for a taxicab livery license shall contain the following
information:
A. The name and address of the owner or owners and, if the
owner is a corporation, the names and addresses of the officers thereof.
B. The address at which such business will be conducted.
C. A list of the cars to be dispatched from such livery.
D. Such other information as the Chief of Police may require.
All licenses issued under the provisions of this chapter shall expire
May 31 after issuance.
Any license granted pursuant to the provisions of this chapter may,
before the expiration thereof, be revoked by the Department of Public Safety
upon the recommendation of any person, and such license may be taken up and
all privileges terminated after a hearing and opportunity is given to the
holder thereof to be heard.
No taxicab owner shall permit any other person to use his license.
In case of any change in ownership or address of a taxicab livery during
the life of any license to operate such taxicab livery, the Chief of Police
shall be immediately notified of such change and the license corrected or
amended in accordance therewith.
All taxicabs shall be inspected as often as the Chief of Police shall
direct, and if said taxicab shall be found not reasonably safe for operation,
the Chief of Police shall order the taxicab withdrawn from service, and no
such taxicab shall thereafter be used or operated as a taxicab until such
defects are remedied and approved by the Chief of Police.
Every taxicab licensed under this chapter shall have affixed in a conspicuous
place in the interior thereof the taxicab license issued by the City Clerk
and the taxicab driver's license of the person driving and operating
said taxicab.
Each taxicab shall have posted in a conspicuous place in the taxicab
a printed schedule of rates for one or more passengers, which schedule of
rates shall be of sufficient size to be read easily by all passengers. A duplicate
of the schedule shall also be filed with the City Clerk.
Any motor vehicle licensed as a taxicab under this chapter may be withdrawn
from service during the term of the license and some other motor vehicle substituted
in the place thereof, provided that notice is filed with the City Clerk and
authorization obtained from the Chief of Police before such substituted motor
vehicle is placed in service. The requirements for the substituted vehicle
shall be the same as the requirements for the vehicle originally licensed.
All taxicab owners shall keep a written record of all taxicab calls
on a form approved by the Chief of Police, and all such records must be retained
at least one year.
No taxicab shall be driven or operated to which a trailer is attached.
The following regulations shall apply to all persons to whom a taxicab
driver's license has been issued under this article:
A. Disorderly conduct; obstructing sidewalks. No taxicab
driver shall, while waiting for employment in any place, engage in any disorderly
conduct or obstruct any sidewalk.
B. Driver to remain in vehicle. Every taxicab driver, while
waiting for employment in any established taxicab stand, shall be and remain
in the taxicab of which he is in charge.
C. Willful misrepresentation. No taxicab driver shall induce
any person to be carried by any taxicab by willful misrepresentation.
D. Duty to keep vehicle clean. Every taxicab driver shall
at all times keep the inside of taxicabs operated by him in a clean and sanitary
condition, and every taxicab driver shall at least once each day thoroughly
clean the inside of every taxicab operated by him.
E. Driver to await employment at stand. No taxicab driver
shall wait for employment in any stand or place of public resort except at
an established taxicab stand.
F. Manner of seeking employment. No taxicab driver shall
seek employment by repeatedly and persistently driving a cab to and fro in
a space before or by otherwise interfering with the proper and orderly access
to or egress from any theater, hall, hotel, public resort, railroad station
or terminal or other place of public gathering, nor shall any taxicab solicit
employment by driving at such low speed as to interfere with or impede traffic;
provided, however, that taxicab drivers shall obey the instructions of police
officers who may in emergency give instructions relating thereto as will relieve
traffic congestion and conserve the safety and convenience of the public.
G. Intoxication. No taxicab driver shall drive or operate
a taxicab while he is intoxicated, nor shall he drink intoxicating liquor
while on duty.
H. Locking doors. No taxicab driver shall at any time so
fasten or lock the doors on the taxicab so that it is impossible for a passenger
to open the same from the inside.
I. Use of taxicab by persons other than those hiring the
same. No taxicab driver shall permit any person other than the passenger who
hires the use of the taxicab and such person or persons as such passengers
shall designate to be or remain in or upon said taxicab while any passenger
is being solicited therefor and conveyed therein.
J. Changes of address or employer. All taxicab drivers shall
promptly report changes of addresses and of all changes of employer.
K. Refusal to convey passengers. No taxicab driver shall
refuse or neglect to convey any orderly person or persons upon request unless
previously engaged or unable so to do.
L. Articles left in taxicab. Every taxicab driver shall
search the interior of the cab after the termination of each trip for any
article left or lost in the cab and shall immediately take such property to
the police station.
M. Use of license by others. No taxicab driver shall permit
any other person to use his license.
N. Hours of operation. No taxicab driver shall operate any
cab for more than 12 hours of any continuous twenty-four-hour period, with
the exception of an allowance of eight hours or one day in each week for changing
shifts.
O. Inspection of vehicle; report of mechanical failures.
Every taxicab driver shall, at the conclusion of each period of duty, inspect
all lights on the taxicab he has been driving, test the horn or other signaling
device and report any failures together with any brake failures or other mechanical
failures to his employer, if any, and all such failures shall be corrected
before the cab is again placed in service.
[Added 4-28-1993]
Radio dispatch operations of base stations are hereby prohibited in
residentially zoned areas.
Any person violating any provision of this chapter shall be punishable as provided in §
1-1 of this Code. Each day that any violation occurs or is repeated shall be considered a separate offense. In addition to the punishment provided, a conviction for violation of this chapter shall automatically revoke any license which may have been granted under the terms of this chapter to the person so convicted.