[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Garfield 4-4-1978 by Ord. No. 1648 (Ch. 228 of the 1979 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Vehicles and traffic — See Ch. 325.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
DRIVER
Any person in whose name title to any taxicab is registered with the New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicles, or who appears in such records to be the conditional vendee or lessee thereof.
LICENSED
Licensed in accordance with this chapter, unless otherwise stated.
OPERATION OF A TAXICAB
Transporting in such taxicab one or more persons for hire along any of the streets in this City. Accepting a passenger to be transported for hire within this City or from a point within this City to a point outside the City limits or discharging a passenger transported for hire from a point within the City limits shall be deemed to be operation of a taxicab within the meaning thereof. The operation of a taxicab in any of the above-described manners by one other than the owner shall be deemed operation by the owner thereof as well as by the person actually driving the taxicab. The transportation of any person other than the owner or driver in any motor vehicle bearing a sign therein or thereon using the word "taxi," "taxicab," "cab" or "hack" shall be prima facie evidence of operation.
PUBLIC TAXI STAND
A section of a public street or public places set apart for the exclusive use of a limited number of taxicabs, distinctly marked as such.
[Added 10-28-2014 by Ord. No. 2695]
TAXICAB
Any automobile or motorcar, commonly called "taxi," engaged in the business of carrying passengers for hire, which is held out, announced or advertised to operate or run or which is operated or run over any of the streets within the City and which particularly accepts and discharges such persons as may offer themselves for transportation from points or places to points or places within or without the City.
TAXICAB LICENSE
An official document of the City of Garfield which permits the holder to operate a taxicab for hire within the City limits, subject to any restrictions found in the City Code and state and federal laws.
[Added 10-28-2014 by Ord. No. 2695]
TAXICAB LICENSE HOLDER
An individual, partnership, limited-liability company or corporation to whom a taxicab license has been issued by the City of Garfield.
[Added 10-28-2014 by Ord. No. 2695]
TAXICAB OPERATOR'S LICENSE
The official document of the City of Garfield, conferred by the City Council, which grants the individual nontransferable permission to drive a taxicab upon the streets of Garfield. This term shall not be construed to mean a driver's license issued by the State of New Jersey.
[Added 10-28-2014 by Ord. No. 2695]
TAXICAB OPERATOR'S LICENSE HOLDER
The individual to whom a taxicab operator's license has been issued by the City of Garfield.
[Added 10-28-2014 by Ord. No. 2695]
No person shall operate any taxicab within the City unless both the taxicab and the driver thereof are licensed and conform to the provisions of this chapter.
There are hereby established two classes of taxicab licenses, to be known as "taxicab driver's license" and "taxicab owner's license," respectively.
A. 
A taxicab driver's license shall entitle the person named therein to operate within the City any taxicab duly licensed hereunder until the license either expires or is surrendered, suspended or revoked, and shall not be transferable.
B. 
A taxicab owner's license shall entitle the taxicab therein described to be operated in the City by a driver duly licensed hereunder until the license either expires or is surrendered, suspended or revoked, and shall not be transferable.
Any license issued pursuant to the terms of this chapter shall expire at 12:00 midnight, December 31 of the year in which it was issued, unless sooner revoked or suspended.
[Amended 10-28-2014 by Ord. No. 2695]
The total number of taxicab owner's licenses that may be issued and outstanding at any one time is hereby fixed at three, and the total number of taxicabs authorized by any one company shall be not more than eight.
A. 
All applications for the issuance or renewal of any license of either class shall be made to the City Council on forms adopted by the Council and obtained from the City Clerk and designed to elicit information respecting the identification, responsibility and law-abiding habits of the applicant.
B. 
The City Clerk is hereby authorized to issue a temporary taxicab driver's license pending the approval by the City Council of any application for a taxicab driver's license submitted in accordance with this chapter, provided that the Chief of Police of the City shall certify to the City Clerk that, after due investigation, the applicant is not ineligible under § 310-8.
Each applicant for a license of any class shall supply the information requested on the application in full and verify the correctness thereof by his oath and affirmation and thereafter file the completed application with the City Clerk, together with the full amount of the proper fee hereinafter fixed therefor.
A. 
Application accessories for driver's license.
(1) 
Each applicant for a taxicab driver's license shall file with his application two photographs, each 3 1/2 inches in size, clearly depicting the facial features of the applicant, both of which photographs shall thereupon become the property of the City and be retained with the application form unless the application is issued, in which event one of the photographs shall be permanently affixed to the license card in a space provided therein.
(2) 
Each applicant for a taxicab driver's license shall be fingerprinted by the Police Department of the City, which fingerprints shall become the property of the City and be retained with the application form.
B. 
Application accessories for owner's license.
(1) 
Each applicant for a taxicab owner's license shall have a regularly registered business office and shall therein have a telephone operating.
(2) 
Every applicant for a taxicab owner's license shall submit the insurance policy or bond required by N.J.S.A. 48:16-3 and 48:16-4 covering the taxicab to be licensed and shall execute and deliver to the City Clerk concurrently with the filing of the policy or bond aforesaid a power of attorney wherein and whereby the owner shall appoint the City Clerk his true and lawful attorney for the purpose of acknowledging service of any process out of a court of competent jurisdiction to be served against the insured by virtue of the indemnity granted under the insurance policy or bond filed in accordance with N.J.S.A. 48:16-5.
(3) 
The City Clerk, upon the filing of the required insurance policy or bond, shall issue a certificate in duplicate showing that the owner of the taxicab has complied with the terms of the New Jersey statutes aforesaid, which certificates shall recite the name of the insurance company, the number and date of expiration of the policy or bond, a description of the taxicab insured thereunder and the registration number of the same. The duplicate certificate shall be filed with the Department of Motor Vehicles before any such car is licensed as a taxicab. The original certificate shall be posted in a conspicuous place within the taxicab.
[Amended 10-28-2014 by Ord. No. 2695]
The annual fee for each taxicab driver's license hereafter issued or any renewal thereof shall be $50 for each year or portion thereof. The fee for a taxicab owner's license shall be $100 for each taxicab for each year or a portion of a year for which the license is issued or renewed, and all of such licenses shall be under the charge and control of the person applying therefor, and he shall be responsible for the operation of all cars so licensed to him.
The City Council may, in its discretion, refuse to renew, or may, after notice and hearing, revoke or suspend:
A. 
Any license of either class if the applicant or licensee has been once convicted of a crime in this or any other jurisdiction or convicted of being a disorderly person or of a violation of Title 39, Motor Vehicles and Traffic Regulation, of the Revised Statutes of New Jersey, or has been dishonorably discharged from the Armed Forces of the United States of America, or violates any provision of this chapter or has any judgment unsatisfied of record against him arising out of an automobile accident, or is an alien citizen of any nation between whom and the United States of America a state of war exists, or has made false answers in his application for such license or any renewal thereof, or has failed to render reasonably prompt, safe and adequate taxicab service, or has not complied fully with all requirements of this chapter for such class of license.
B. 
Any taxicab driver's license if the licensee or applicant has in any degree contributed to any injury to person or damage to property arising out of negligent operation of a motor vehicle, or has any communicable or contagious disease.
C. 
Any taxicab owner's license if the motor vehicle licensed or to be licensed, by reason of unsafe or unsanitary conditions, is dangerous to the safety or health of the occupants or others, or if the policy of insurance or bond or power of attorney required by N.J.S.A. 48:16-3, 48:16-4 and 48:16-5 has not been furnished or kept in force, or if the owners fail to comply with any terms or conditions imposed by the City Council or any law in this state.
A. 
Each applicant granted a taxicab driver's license shall be issued a license card in evidence thereof in a form approved by City Council and signed by the City Clerk in its behalf. Such license card shall at all times be prominently displayed and adequately protected in the interior of any taxicab operated by the licensee so that the face thereof shall be at all times in full view of and plainly legible to any passenger seated on the rear seat of such taxicab; and the license card shall at all times remain the property of the City and, on direction of the City Council, shall at once be surrendered to the City Clerk.
B. 
No taxicab driver's license card other than that of the licensee actually operating the taxicab at the time shall be displayed therein.
Owners and drivers of taxicabs licensed out of the jurisdiction of the City may be allowed to enter their taxicabs in the City but on specific call only, whether transporting a passenger within this City or from a point within this City to a point outside the City limits or discharging a passenger within the City limits, and the name of the passenger so calling shall be given by the owner or driver when requested by the City police or other lawful persons. Such taxicabs shall not be parked in this City nor shall the drivers thereof cruise on the streets of this City at any time for the purpose of soliciting passengers nor shall they, in the nighttime or other periods of darkness, when in this City, permit any advertising lights on the taxicab to remain unlighted; provided, however, that the same or similar substantial reciprocal rights are granted to the owners and drivers of taxicabs licensed in the City by the municipalities in which the aforesaid owners or drivers are licensed.
[Amended 10-28-2014 by Ord. No. 2695]
All vehicles herein required to be licensed which are used or operated for the carrying of passengers within the scope of this chapter shall be automobile sedans with a minimum of three doors; at least two of the doors shall be for the exclusive use of the passengers. The automobiles shall be at all times clean and in good repair and shall not be more than six years old.
[Amended 4-18-1978 by Ord. No. 1647; 9-18-1984 by Ord. No. 1837; 10-28-2014 by Ord. No. 2695]
A. 
Any dispute as to the fare shall be determined by the officer in charge of the police station at the time of the dispute.
B. 
Every driver of a taxicab shall, when requested, give a passenger a receipt for the fare paid.
C. 
No person other than the licensed driver of the taxicab shall ride or sit in the compartment of the taxicab reserved for the driver, unless the passengers, for reasons of disability, cannot occupy the rear seat.
D. 
Every vehicle licensed hereunder shall have fastened in a conspicuous place therein a printed card showing the rates which shall be charged for transportation.
E. 
Every vehicle licensed hereunder shall have posted on both front doors or both rear doors of the vehicle the rates for transportation in figures of not less than 2 1/2 inches in height and letters of not less than one inch in height.
F. 
The prices that may be charged by the owners or drivers of automobiles, taxicabs or other motor vehicles for the transportation of passengers for hire shall not exceed the following rates:
(1) 
Where a flat-rate cab is used, the fare shall be, for every trip a driver makes from or to any point in the City, the sum of $6 for one or two passengers; provided, however, that if he carries more than two passengers at the same time to the same point or within a block of such point, he shall receive the sum of $0.50 for each additional passenger, the object being that the driver in no instance shall receive less than $6.
(2) 
Where a taximeter cab is used, the fare shall not exceed the following rates:
(a) 
For the conveying of any number of passengers anywhere within the City: $6.
(b) 
For each mile outside the City of Garfield: $2.
No taxicab while waiting for employment by passengers shall stand on any public street or space other than at or upon a taxicab stand designated or established in accordance with the ordinance and designated as the stand for such taxicab by the City Council, nor shall any driver of such taxicab seek employment by repeatedly and persistently driving his taxicab to and from in a short space before or by otherwise interfering with the proper and orderly access to or egress from any theater, hall, hotel, public resort, railway station or other place of public gathering, and no driver shall solicit passengers for a taxicab except when standing at his vehicle or sitting upon the driver's seat thereof.
[Amended 5-20-1980 by Ord. No. 1723; 4-25-2006 by Ord. No. 2457]
Any person, firm, corporation or association who shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter shall, in addition to the suspension or revocation of the license heretofore mentioned, be punished by one or more of the following: a fine not exceeding $2,000; imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days; and/or a period of community service not exceeding 90 days, and every day of such violation shall be deemed and taken to be a separate and distinct offense.
[Added 10-28-2014 by Ord. No. 2695]
Taxicabs may display advertising on or above the rear bumper and/or rooftop of the taxicab, provided such advertising is properly framed and does not obstruct rear vision. Such advertising shall be no larger the six square feet.