[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
of the Township of Washington 12-21-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-18. Amendments noted where applicable.]
For the purposes of this chapter, the terms used herein are
defined as follows:
PERSON
Any individual, co-partnership, association or corporation,
or joint-stock company, their lessees, trustees, or receivers.
TAXICAB; LIMOUSINE
Any automobile or motorcar, commonly called taxi or limo,
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 Township of Washington,
and particularly accepts and discharges such persons as may offer
themselves for transportation from points or places within or without
said Township, provided that nothing herein contained shall be construed
to affect any public conveyance which is by law subject to state and/or
federal regulation exclusively.
From and after the effective date of this chapter, no person
shall pick up for hire any persons for any taxicab or limousine within
the Township of Washington unless both the taxicab or limousine and
driver thereof are licensed pursuant to the terms of this chapter
and conform to all the provisions thereof.
Every applicant for a taxicab or limousine license or taxicab
or limousine operator's license shall make application therefor
on forms furnished by the Township Clerk, and the same shall be completed
and verified under oath and filed with said Township Clerk. Each application
shall set forth the full name and address of the owner, lessee or
bailee of the taxicab or limousine to be licensed and the make and
character of the taxicab or limousine, which must bear a current state
inspection certification.
The Chief of Police or a member of the Police Department designated
by him shall conduct an investigation of each applicant for a taxicab
or limousine license or taxicab or limousine operator's licenses
and make a report of such investigation, and a copy of the traffic
and police record of said applicant, if any, shall be attached to
the application.
No taxicab or limousine license or taxicab or limousine driver's
license shall be issued:
A. To an individual who has been convicted of a crime involving moral
turpitude or is at least 21 years of age.
B. To a co-partnership unless none of the members thereof have been
convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude and none of whom is
less than 21 years of age.
C. To the applicant for a taxicab or limousine driver's license
unless he shall submit a certificate from a licensed physician of
the State of New Jersey, at the applicant's expense, certifying
that the applicant has been examined within the preceding 30 days
and that he has no infirmity of body or mind which might render him
unfit for the safe operation of a taxicab or limousine.
D. To a corporation unless none of the officers, directors and stockholders
thereof have been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude and
none of whom is less than 21 years of age.
If the Chief of Police finds that the applicant for a taxicab
or limousine license is fit, willing, and able to perform such public
transportation and to conform to the provisions of this chapter, then,
upon payment of the proper fee by the applicant, the Township Clerk
shall issue a taxicab or limousine license stating the name and address
of the applicant, the number and description of vehicles authorized
under such license, the approved location of the cab or limo stand
and the date of issuance thereof.
If the Chief of Police finds that the applicant for a driver's
license is fit and conforms to the provisions of this chapter, then,
upon payment of the proper fee by the applicant, the Township Clerk
shall issue a license upon which shall appear the name, address, age,
signature, company employed by and photograph of the applicant.
The Chief of Police shall, after consideration of the application
for a taxicab or limousine driver's license and the reports and
certificate required to be attached thereon, approve or reject the
application for a taxicab or limousine driver's license. If the
application for a taxicab or limousine driver's license is rejected,
the applicant, within 30 days, may request a personal appearance before
the Township Committee to offer evidence why his application should
be reconsidered. The Township Committee or the Chief of Police may
refuse to grant or renew a taxicab or limousine driver's license
in the case of any applicant:
A. Whose state automobile driver's license or permit to operate
a taxicab or limousine has been suspended or revoked;
B. Who has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude;
C. Who shall have been convicted of a violation of laws pertaining to
intoxicants, narcotics, or prostitution;
D. Who for just cause is deemed by either the Chief of Police or Township
Committee unfit to drive a taxicab or limousine;
E. Who fails to submit proof of inspection by a New Jersey licensed
inspection facility.
A. The annual taxicab or limousine license fee shall be $100 for the
first taxicab or limousine to be covered by the taxicab or limousine
license and $50 for each additional taxicab or limousine under said
license, and the license shall be effective for the period from January
1 to December 31 of each calendar year or part thereof. Taxicab or
limousine licenses shall expire on December 31. A taxicab or limousine
license for each calendar year thereafter shall be issued upon the
payment of the aforesaid fee to the Township Clerk.
B. The annual taxicab or limousine driver's license fee shall be
$2, and the license shall be effective for the period from January
1 to December 31 of each calendar year or part thereof. A taxicab
or limousine driver's license shall be issued upon the payment
of $2 unless the license for the preceding year has been revoked.
Every driver licensed under this chapter shall post his driver's
license in a conspicuous position in plain view of all passengers.
No license shall be sold, assigned, mortgaged, or otherwise
transferred.
No taxicab or limousine license shall be issued until the applicant
therefor shall have filed with the Township Clerk an insurance policy
of a company duly licensed to transact business under the insurance
laws of this state, or a certificate thereof, showing policy limits
of a minimum of $500,000 combined single limit liability.
No taxicab or limousine license shall be issued until the applicant therefor shall have delivered to said Township Clerk, concurrently with the filing of the insurance policy referred to in §
109-12 hereof, a power of attorney executed by said applicant wherein and whereby said applicant shall appoint the Chief Financial Officer of the Township of Washington as his, her, or its 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 filed, and any license for a taxicab or limousine issued upon any such application shall continue effective and the operation of any taxicab or limousine thereunder shall be permitted only so long as said power of attorney shall remain in effect and unrevoked.
Drivers of taxicabs or limousines shall not receive or discharge
passengers in the roadway but shall pull up to the right-hand sidewalk
as nearly as possible or, in the absence of a sidewalk, to the extreme
right-hand side of the road and there receive or discharge passengers,
except upon one-way streets, where passengers may be discharged on
either the right-hand or the left-hand sidewalk, or the side of the
roadway in the absence of a sidewalk.
No driver shall permit any other person to occupy or ride any
said taxicab or limousine unless the person or persons first employing
the taxicab or limousine shall consent to the acceptance of additional
passenger or passengers.
No driver shall permit more than a maximum number of five adults
or five children to be carried in a taxicab or limousine. A child
in the arms of an adult should not be counted as a passenger. No driver
may refuse or neglect to convey any orderly person or persons upon
their request unless previously engaged or unable to or forbidden
by the provisions of this chapter to do so.
Any holder of a license who shall refuse to accept a call anywhere
within the limits of the Township of Washington at any time when such
holder has taxicabs or limousines available, or who shall fail or
refuse to give service, shall be deemed to have violated this chapter.
A. Drivers of taxicabs or limousines shall be clean and neat in appearance
at all times.
B. Every taxicab or limousine shall be conspicuously painted and plainly
marked as a taxicab or limousine when said taxicab or limousine is
commercially employed.
A. A taxicab or limousine license issued under the provisions of this
chapter may be revoked or suspended by the Township Committee if the
holder thereof has:
(1) Failed to operate the licensed vehicle for more than 30 days.
(2) Violated any ordinance of the Township of Washington or the laws
of the United States or the State of New Jersey, the violations of
which reflect unfavorably on the fitness of the licensee to hold a
license for public transportation.
(3) Failed to furnish or keep in force the insurance policy and power
of attorney required by this chapter.
(4) Changed his situation so that he could not at present qualify for
a license.
(5) Sold or assigned any stock in any corporation or association without
having first reported such change to the Township Clerk and police,
and the new owners meet the requisite qualifications of any applicant.
B. Prior to suspension or revocation, the licensee shall be given written
notice of the proposed action to be taken and the reasons therefor,
and he shall have an opportunity to be heard.
A. The Chief of Police is given authority to suspend or revoke any taxicab
or limousine driver's license issued under this chapter for failure
to comply with the provisions of this chapter or qualify at present
for a license.
B. Suspension or revocation of a taxicab or limousine driver's
license may be appealed to the Township Committee within 30 days.
Every driver licensed under this chapter shall comply with all Township,
state and federal laws. Failure to do so will justify suspension or
revocation of this license.
All licensees hereunder shall agree upon and accept a uniform
rate schedule, which shall be subject to review by Township Committee,
a schedule of which shall be filed with the Township Clerk and posted
within each vehicle in ready view of all passengers.
The making of false statements and/or the disclosure thereof
in any application or record required by this chapter shall constitute
a violation of this chapter, invalidate the application, and cause
immediate revocation of any license so issued.
Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall,
upon conviction thereof, be punishable by a fine not exceeding $500
or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days, or by both such
fine and imprisonment. In the event the person violating any provision
of this chapter is a corporation, the officers, agents or employees
thereof who shall violate or procure, aid or abet any violation of
any of the provisions of this chapter, or permit the operation of
any taxicab or limousine contrary to the requirements thereto, shall
be subject to the same penalties as if they, themselves, were personally
operating such taxicab or limousine at the time such violations were
committed.