[HISTORY: Adopted by Mayor and Council of Borough of Atlantic Highlands 4-3-1925 by Ord. No. 184; amended in its entirety 6-22-1982 by Ord. No. 795. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Vehicles and traffic — See Ch. 139.
Licensing — See Ch. 211.
The following words and phrases, and their derivatives when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings hereafter ascribed to them:
DRIVER
Any person who drives a taxicab within this Borough.
OPERATION OF A TAXICAB
Shall consist of transporting in such taxicab one or more persons for hire along any of the streets of this Borough. Accepting a passenger to be transported for hire within this Borough or from a point within this Borough to a point outside of the Borough limits or discharging a passenger transported for hire from a point outside the Borough limits to a point within the Borough limits shall be deemed to be "operation of a taxicab" within the Borough within the meaning thereof. The "operation of a taxicab" in any of the above-described methods by one other than the owner shall be deemed operation by the owner thereof as well as by the person actually driving the same. The transportation of any person other than the owner or driver in any motor vehicle bearing the sign thereon or therein using the word "taxi," "taxicab," "cab," "hack" or term word of similar connotation, shall be prima facie evidence of operation.
OWNER
Any person, corporation or association 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.
TAXICAB
Includes any automobile or motor car, 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 of the Borough of Atlantic Highlands and which accepts passengers in this Borough for transportation from points or places to points or places within or without said Borough.
From and after the effective date of this chapter, no person shall operate any taxicab within this Borough unless both the taxicab and the driver thereof are licensed pursuant to this chapter and conform to all the provisions thereof.
There are hereby established two classes of taxicab licenses, to be known as "taxicab driver's license" and "taxicab owner's license," respectively.
A taxicab driver's license shall entitle the person named therein to operate within this Borough any taxicab duly licensed hereunder until said license either expires or is surrendered, suspended or revoked and shall not be transferable.
A. 
A taxicab owner's license shall entitle the company, corporation or partnership which owns and operates said taxicabs in this Borough to operate all of its cabs in the Borough on a continuous twenty-four-hour basis, provided that all of the other sections of this chapter are complied with or until said license shall either expire or is surrendered, suspended or revoked, and such license shall not be transferable. Said license shall be displayed in the taxicab in a manner so as to be clearly visible to any passenger riding in said taxicab.
B. 
Every holder of a taxicab license in the Borough shall have a telephone listing published in the county telephone directory and shall be available for hire by the residents of the Borough during the effective term of said license.
Every license issued pursuant to the terms of this chapter shall expire at 12:00 midnight of the 31st of January of the next year succeeding in which it was issued, unless sooner surrendered, suspended or revoked.
A. 
Every applicant for a driver's license shall, in addition to the requirements herein provided and of any law of this state, prove to the satisfaction of the Mayor and Council that:
(1) 
He is over the age of 18 years.
(2) 
He is in good health, with good eyesight.
(3) 
He is not addicted to the use of intoxicating liquors or drugs.
(4) 
He is able to read and write the English language.
(5) 
He is of good character.
(6) 
He has not been convicted of an indictable offense or of reckless driving within two years next preceding the filing of such application.
(7) 
He has knowledge of the state motor vehicle laws and traffic regulations.
(8) 
He has knowledge of the ordinances and geography of the Borough of Atlantic Highlands.
B. 
He shall furnish with the application for such driver's license a recent photograph of himself of a size not less than 1 1/4 inches in height and 1 3/4 inches in length, which photograph shall be filed with the application.
C. 
Such applicant for a driver's license under this chapter shall be fingerprinted before the license is issued.
D. 
All applications for driver's licenses shall be filed with the Municipal Clerk, in writing, in duplicate. The Municipal Clerk shall submit said applications to the Mayor and Council for action at the next succeeding meeting, and any and all applications may be granted or refused by the vote of the majority of the members of said body present at such meeting.
No taxi owner's license shall be issued for any vehicle herein required to be licensed until the owner thereof shall have filed an application for the same, addressed to the Mayor and Council, setting forth the character of the vehicle proposed to be licensed, the correct name of the owner thereof, the residence or address of the principal office of such owner, and filed with the Municipal Clerk a certification of insurance policy, with the premium prepaid thereon, of a company duly licensed to transact business under the insurance laws of the State of New Jersey, in the sum of $500,000 against loss from liability imposed by law upon said owner for damages on account of bodily injury or death suffered by one person and in the sum of $1,000,000 against loss from liability imposed by law upon the same owner for damages on account of bodily injury or death suffered by more than one person as a result of an accident occurring by reason of the ownership, maintenance or use of the vehicle so licensed within the Borough of Atlantic Highlands and the sum of $100,000 against loss from liability imposed by law upon said owner for personal property damage suffered by any person or persons as a result of an accident occurring by reason of ownership, maintenance or use of the vehicle so licensed. Such license shall continue to be effective and operative only as long as said insurance policy shall remain in force and effect, and the full amounts payable thereunder shall remain collectible. Such insurance policies shall provide for the payment of any final judgment received by any person or persons on account of the ownership, maintenance and use of said vehicle or any fault in respect thereto and shall be for the benefit of any person suffering loss, damage or injury as aforesaid. If any prepaid insurance premium is for less than one year, the license issued shall be for the period of the prepaid premium. Such license may be renewed on filing with the Municipal Clerk proof of payment for the continuation of said insurance.
The fees for the issuance of the license herein referred to shall be as provided in Chapter 168, Article II:
A. 
For each taxicab licensed, up to a maximum of four, per year, or any fraction thereof.
B. 
For each taxicab owner's license, which owner shall have five or more cabs operating in the Borough of Atlantic Highlands for all said taxicabs.
C. 
For each taxicab driver's license, per year, or any fraction thereof.
D. 
For any renewal of a taxicab license during the remaining year as provided for in § 327-8.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
The Mayor and Council of the Borough of Atlantic Highlands may, in its discretion, refuse to issue or renew or may, after notice and hearing, revoke or suspend:
A. 
Any license of either class if the applicant or licensee, within two years next preceding the filing of an application hereunder, or who, having obtained a license while said license is in effect hereunder, has been or is convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude in this or any other jurisdiction, or of being a disorderly person in this or any other jurisdiction, or of reckless driving or whose driving privileges have been revoked in this or any other state, or who violates any provision of this chapter, or who has any judgment unsatisfied of record against him arising out of an automobile accident, or who has failed or fails to render reasonable, prompt, safe and adequate taxicab service, or who has not complied fully with all the requirements of this chapter for such class of license.
B. 
Any taxicab driver's license if the applicant 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 condition is dangerous to the safety and health of the occupants or others, or if the policy of insurance required by this chapter or by any statute of New Jersey has once lapsed, or such coverage is not maintained at all times.
D. 
Any license of either class if the driver shall accept any passenger for transportation from any point or place other than a fixed taxi stand designated by the Mayor and Council for such taxicab unless such passenger has requested transportation at the regularly operated taxicab office or terminus of the particular taxicab involved or without the solicitation of the driver, owner or anyone on their behalf has requested transportation requiring the driver to immediately pick up the passenger from a point or place where the passenger is situated.
Each applicant granted a taxicab driver's license shall be issued a license card in evidence thereof in a form approved by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Atlantic Highlands and signed by the Municipal Clerk in his behalf. Said license card shall, at all times, be carried by the driver while operating a taxicab. In addition, the owner of the taxicab shall furnish a card with the name of the driver which shall at all times be prominently displayed and adequately posted in the interior of any taxicab operated by the licensee so that the face thereof shall be at all times in full view and plainly legible to any passenger seated on the rear seat of such taxicab, and there shall be affixed to such card in full view of such passengers a photograph of a size not less than 1 1/4 inches in height and 1 3/4 inches in length, of such licensed driver, together with a photograph of the licensed owner of such taxicab of the same size, and each of such photographs shall have indicated thereon the words "Licensed Taxicab Owner" or "Licensed Taxicab Driver," as the case may be.
The operation of any taxicab pursuant to this chapter shall be permitted and shall be lawful only so long as the applicable liability insurance policies prescribed by this chapter shall remain in full force to the full and collectible amount stated in said policies.
The violation by the taxicab owner or the taxicab driver of any rules, regulations, special rulings and findings which are hereafter promulgated by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Atlantic Highlands and included within a resolution or resolutions adopted by said governing body, shall be sufficient cause for suspension or revocation of any license granted to such taxicab owner or driver pursuant to this chapter and shall be sufficient cause for the refusal by the Mayor and Council to renew such license, in addition to any and all other grounds heretofore specifically mentioned in this chapter.
Owners and drivers of taxicabs licensed out of the jurisdiction of this Borough may be allowed to enter their taxicab in this Borough, but on specific call only, whether transporting a passenger within this Borough to a point outside the Borough limits or discharging a passenger transported from a point outside the Borough limits to a point within the Borough limits, and the name of the passenger so calling him shall be given by the owner or driver when requested by the Borough police or other lawful persons. Such taxicabs shall not be parked in this Borough, nor shall the drivers thereof cruise on the streets of this Borough at any time for the purpose of soliciting passengers; provided, however, that the same or similar substantial reciprocal rights are granted to owners and drivers of taxicabs licensed in this Borough by the municipalities in which the aforesaid owners or drivers are licensed.
Any person or persons who shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine not exceeding $200 or imprisonment in the county jail for a term not exceeding 90 days, in the discretion of the Judge by whom such person is convicted.