No person shall engage in the operation of a taxicab, hire out
or keep or use for hire or pay, or cause to be kept or used for hire
or pay, any taxicab without first having obtained a license for that
purpose from the Borough Clerk. Each license shall entitle the licensee
to operate one taxicab or taxi in the Borough.
A.
Each application for a license shall be in writing and filed with
the Borough Clerk, in duplicate, on forms provided. The application
shall contain the name and address of the owner; the name and address
of the lessee, if any; the business or trade name, if any, under which
the owner or lessee will operate the taxicab or livery; the serial
number, make, model, year and color of the taxicab or livery; the
automobile registration number issued for said vehicle by the New
Jersey Division of Motor Vehicles; and the maximum number of persons
it is to carry.
B.
In the event that, after the filing of said application and before
the expiration of the license issued thereunder, any change in circumstances
shall occur with respect to any information submitted on the application,
the applicant shall, no later than 10 days following the occurrence
of such change, give written notice thereof to the Borough Clerk indicating
the nature thereof and the manner in which the information set forth
on the original application should be amended, modified or corrected
to conform to such change in circumstances.
C.
Subsequent to the filing of the application with the information
required by this section, the Mayor and Council shall by resolution
approve the application for a license subject to the requirements
of this chapter.
D.
Owners of the taxicab license and all persons that will operate the
taxicab are required to fill out an application form and receive a
taxicab card.
E.
Every person obtaining a taxi license shall be 18 years of age and
a legal resident of the United States, a holder of a valid driver's
license issued by the Division of Motor Vehicles, State of New Jersey,
shall have a regular business office within the Borough and shall
maintain an operating telephone listed in the Bergen County telephone
directory under the name of the owner.
[Amended 3-20-2017 by Ord. No. 1541-2017]
The Borough Clerk is hereby authorized to issue temporary taxicab licenses pending the approval by the Borough Council of any application for a taxicab license submitted in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, provided that the Chief of Police and/or Police Director of the Borough shall first certify to the Borough Clerk that, after due investigation, the applicant is not ineligible under the provisions of § 402-27.
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 or affirmation and thereafter file the completed application
with the Borough Clerk, together with the full amount of the proper
fee hereinafter fixed therefor.
A.
Each applicant for a taxicab 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 Borough and be retained with
the application form unless the application shall be accepted, in
which event one of the photographs shall be permanently affixed to
the license card in a space provided therein.
B.
Each applicant for a taxicab license shall file with his initial
application only a physician's certificate certifying that the
applicant is in good health and free from any communicable or contagious
disease.
Each applicant for a taxicab license and anyone driving a taxicab
shall be fingerprinted by the Police Department of the Borough of
Edgewater, which fingerprints shall thereupon become the property
of the Borough and be retained with the application form.
Each applicant for a taxicab license shall have a regularly
registered business office and shall therein have a telephone operating.
No taxicab owner shall be licensed until a policy of insurance
shall have been filed with the Borough Clerk in accordance with the
provisions of N.J.S.A. 48:16-1. to 48:16-12; inclusive, as now or
hereafter amended or supplemented. Such policy of insurance shall
not be filed unless it is approved by the Mayor and Council.
Licenses shall be issued by the Borough Clerk and shall be signed
by the Borough Clerk and in the name of the Borough.
The Mayor and Council shall be limited to issuing not more than
one license per 1,000 persons or a portion thereof residing within
the Borough of Edgewater. The Mayor and Council shall allow a limit
of three taxicab licenses to be issued in the Borough.
A.
Upon issuance of a license, the Borough Clerk shall issue to the
licensee one card containing the name of the owner, the license number
of the vehicle and year of issue, provided that the licensee has met
all requirements of this chapter. The card shall be inserted in a
card rack or frame provided by the owner and attached on the inside
of the taxicab or taxi on the front dashboard.
B.
The Borough Clerk shall issue as many taxicab cards to the owner
as needed. Each driver is required to have an individual card with
their photograph.
All licenses shall expire on December 31 next succeeding the
date thereof, unless sooner suspended or revoked.
Each license may be transferred by the person to whom granted
to such other person or persons subject to the approval of the Mayor
and Council, and an application for such transfer shall be made on
a form prepared by the Borough for such purpose, which application
shall be accompanied by a transfer fee made payable to the Borough
of Edgewater in the sum as determined in the fee ordinance.
Each holder of a taxicab license shall pay an annual fee of
$50 per vehicle.
Every licensed taxicab shall record in writing the time and
place each passenger is accepted and the time and place of discharge
of the passenger. Such records shall be kept intact for one year from
the date thereof. Such records shall, in addition, be kept open for
inspection at all times during the one-year period by a duly authorized
representative of the Police Department.
No taxicab license card other than that of the licensee actually
operating the taxicab at the time shall be displayed therein.
No taxicab shall hereafter be operated in this Borough unless
and until there is prominently displayed in the interior thereof,
within the full view and access of any passengers therein, a complete
list of fares, charges or tariff rates charged for transportation
of passengers, which fares, charges or tariff rates so displayed,
and no other, shall be those to be charged any passenger so transported.
Every person so licensed as aforesaid shall not refuse to carry
local fares or passengers.
Owners and drivers of taxicabs licensed out of the jurisdiction
of this Borough may be allowed to enter their taxicabs in this Borough,
but on specific call only whether transporting a passenger within
this Borough, or from a point within this Borough to a point outside
the Borough limits or discharging a passenger transported from a point
outside of the Borough limits to a point within the Borough limits,
and the name of the passenger so calling shall be given by the owner
or driver when requested by the Borough police or other lawful person.
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, nor shall they, in the nighttime
or other periods of darkness, when in this Borough, permit any advertising
lights on the taxicab to remain unlighted; 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 owner or drivers are licensed.
A.
All vehicles herein required to be licensed, used or operated for
the carrying of passengers within the scope of this section shall
at all times be kept clean and in good repair and condition. Each
vehicle shall be equipped with an interior ceiling light which shall
be activated upon pickup and discharge of passengers.
B.
Each and every taxicab operating in the Borough shall have installed
therein a taximeter, or the equivalent thereof, of standard make,
on which the fare or charge for hire of the taxicab is mechanically
and accurately calculated and registered, and on which taximeter the
charge is plainly indicated. The taximeter is to be so place in the
taxicab that the charge thereof may be plainly seen by the passengers.
C.
No person shall use or permit to be used upon any taxicab a taximeter
which shall be in such a condition as to be over 5% incorrect to the
prejudice of any passenger.
D.
After sundown the face of every taximeter shall be illuminated by
a suitable light so arranged as to throw a continuous steady light
thereon while in operation and carrying a passenger, so that the meter
will be clearly discernible and can be read by a passenger in the
rear seat.
E.
Every taxicab shall be equipped with a top light or domelight which
shall be so connected with the taximeter that while the taximeter
is in operation and carrying a passenger the top light or domelight
shall be extinguished.
F.
The taximeter shall be sealed, and a colored paster different in
color at each inspection shall be placed on the taximeter after inspection.
G.
No person shall use or permit to be used or drive for hire a taxicab
equipped with a taximeter, the case of which is unsealed or the seal
broken.
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.
A.
Every vehicle licensed hereunder shall have fastened in a conspicuous
place therein a printed card showing the rates provided for in this
chapter in letters and figures of not less than 1/2 inch in height.
B.
Every vehicle licensed hereunder shall have posted on both front
doors or both rear doors of the vehicle the rates provided for in
this chapter in figures of not less than 2 1/2 inches in height
and letters of not less than one inch in height.
The owner of each taxicab licensed under this chapter shall
file with the Borough Clerk on the annual license renewal date a certification
from the manufacturer of each meter that it has been inspected and
that it is in proper working order. The certification shall be dated
not more than 90 days prior to the renewal date.
Each taxicab licensee licensed under this chapter shall maintain
a twenty-four-hour telephone service and shall have taxicab service
on call on a twenty-four-hour basis.
No licensed taxicab may park in any public street or public
place in the Borough except in such place or places as may be designated
by ordinance, resolution or regulation adopted in accordance with
law. Only such taxicabs as are for hire may remain at designated taxicab
stands while waiting for employment. After the first taxicab in line
leaves the stand, those behind shall move forward. Any other taxicab
seeking parking space in such stand shall approach it only from the
rear thereof. All taxicabs shall contain therein a sign or sticker,
placed in a location to be within the view of the passenger, which
indicates that passengers are required to be discharged at curbside.
The license issued pursuant to this chapter may be suspended
or revoked by the Mayor and Council for any of the following causes,
whether arising out of the operation of a taxicab:
A.
A violation of any provision of this chapter, any provision of any
other ordinance of the Borough of Edgewater or any of the laws of
the State of New Jersey.
B.
The falsification of any information contained in the application
for a license.
C.
Permitting or suffering any taxicab to be used for any illegal or
immoral purpose or purposes.
D.
If the vehicle is found to be unsafe or unfit for public patronage.
E.
If inspection discloses that the taximeter is not in proper working
condition or is operating inaccurately.
