[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee (now Council) of the Township of Gloucester 7-6-1948 by Ord. No. 145. Amendments noted where applicable.]
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 the Township of Gloucester.
LICENSED
Licensed in accordance with the appropriate section of this chapter.
LIMOUSINE
Includes any automobile or motor car with a seating capacity of not more than 14 passengers, not including the driver, provided that such vehicle shall not have a seating capacity in excess of four passengers, not including the driver, beyond the maximum passenger seating capacity of the vehicle not including the driver at the time of manufacture, and used in the business of carrying passengers for hire to provide prearranged passenger transportation on a dedicated, nonscheduled charter basis that is not conducted on a regular route. Nothing in this definition shall be construed to include taxicabs. (N.J.S.A. 48:16-13).
[Added 1-24-2004 by Ord. No. O-04-03]
OPERATION OF A TAXICAB
Shall consist of transporting in such taxicab one or more persons for hire along any of the streets or highways of the Township of Gloucester. Accepting a passenger to be transported for hire within this Township or from a point within this Township to a point outside of the Township limits, or discharging a passenger transported for hire from a point outside of the Township limits to a point within the Township limits, shall be deemed to be "operation of a taxicab" within the Township of Gloucester under the terms hereof. 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 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 a sign or signs therein or thereon using the word "taxi," "taxicab," "cab" or "hack" 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.
PERSONS
Includes the plural as well as the singular and any individual, copartnership, association, corporation or joint-stock company, their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever.
STREETS and HIGHWAYS
Includes any street, avenue, park, parkway, highway or other public place or any part thereof.
TAXICAB
Includes any automobile or motorcar commonly called "taxi," engaged in the business of carrying passengers for hire, which is held out, announced or advertised to operator or run, or which is operated or run, over any of the streets or highways of the Township of Gloucester, and particularly accepts and discharges such persons as may offer themselves for transportation from points or places to points or places within or without the Township of Gloucester.
[Amended 1-24-2004 by Ord. No. O-04-03]
TOWNSHIP
The Township of Gloucester, in the County of Camden and State of New Jersey.
From and after the effective date of this chapter, no person shall operate any taxicab within the Township of Gloucester unless the taxicab is licensed pursuant to this chapter and conforms to all the provisions hereof.
[Amended 11-22-1999 by Ord. No. O-99-43]
Any and all licenses issued pursuant to the terms of this chapter shall expire at 12:00 midnight on the 31st day of January of the year following which the same was issued, unless sooner surrendered, suspended or revoked.
All applications for the issuance or renewal of any license shall be made to the Township Committee on forms adopted by said Township Committee and obtained from the Township Clerk and designed to elicit information respecting the identification, responsibility and law-abiding habits of the applicant.
[Amended 1-24-2004 by Ord. No. O-04-03]
Each applicant for a license 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 Township Clerk, together with the full amount of the proper fee hereinafter fixed therefor, at least one week before said application shall be acted upon by the Township Council. All applicants shall be required to provide information sufficient for an initial municipal background check and at renewal time for the companies they work for.
[Amended 12-16-1954 by Ord. No. 188; 1-24-2004 by Ord. No. O-04-03]
A. 
Limousine.
(1) 
Certificate of compliance - insurance (N.J.S.A. 40A:16-17): $50.
(2) 
License/permit fee (N.J.S.A. 40A:16-18.1): $50.
(3) 
Nonrefundable annual fee January 1 of each succeeding year.
B. 
Taxicab.
[Amended 3-8-2004 by Ord. No. O-04-07]
(1) 
License/permit fee/insurance certificate:
(a) 
First taxi: $100.
(b) 
Per taxi thereafter: $25.
(2) 
Nonrefundable annual fee January 1 of each succeeding year.
[Added 5-20-1970 by Ord. No. 392; amended 1-24-2004 by Ord. No. O-04-03]
A. 
Limousines. No license or other consent shall become effective and no such operation shall be permitted until the owner of such limousine shall have filed with the Municipal Clerk an insurance policy or certificate thereof of a company duly licensed to transact business under the insurance laws of the State of New Jersey, in the amount of $1,500,000 to satisfy any claims for damages by reason of bodily injury to or the death of any person resulting from an accident, and a sum of $1,500,000 on account of any such accident, by reason of the ownership, operation, maintenance or use of such limousine upon any public street; and conditioned for the payment of a sum not less than $1,500,000 to satisfy any claim for damages to property of all persons resulting from an accident, and a sum not less than $1,500,000 to satisfy all claims for damages to property of all persons on account of any such accident, by reason of the ownership, operation, maintenance or use of such limousine upon any public street.
B. 
Taxicabs. No license or other consent shall become effective and no such operation shall be permitted until the owner of such taxicab shall have filed with the Municipal Clerk an insurance policy or certificate thereof, of a company duly licensed to transact business under the insurance laws of the State of New Jersey, in the sum of not less than $100,000 to satisfy all claims for damages by reason of bodily injury to or the death of any one person resulting from an accident, and a sum of not less than $300,000 to satisfy all claims for damages by reason of the bodily injuries to or the death of all persons on account of any such accident, by reason of the ownership, operation, maintenance or use of such taxicab upon any public street; and conditioned for the payment of a sum not less than $50,000 to satisfy any claim for damages to property of any one person resulting from an accident, and a sum not less than $50,000 to satisfy all claims for damages to property of all persons on account of any such accident, by reason of the ownership, operation, maintenance or use of such taxicab upon any public street.
[Amended 3-8-2004 by Ord. No. O-04-07]
The Township Committee may, in its discretion, refuse to issue or renew, or may, after notice and hearing, revoke or suspend, any license:
A. 
If the applicant or licensee has been convicted of a crime in this or any other jurisdiction, or convicted of being a disorderly person or of a violation of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes of New Jersey entitled "Motor Vehicles and Traffic Regulations," or who violates any provision of this chapter or has any judgment unsatisfied of record against his arising out of an automobile accident, or who is not a citizen of the United States of America or who has made false answers in his application for such license or any renewals thereof, or who has failed or fails to render reasonably prompt, safe and adequate taxicab service, or who has not complied fully with all the requirements of this chapter; or
B. 
If the motor vehicle licensed or to be licensed, by reason of unsafe or unsanitary condition, is dangerous to the safety or health of the occupants thereof or others, or if the financial requirements of N.J.S.A. 48:16-1 et seq. have not been complied with or have lapsed, or if the financial responsibility required thereby is not maintained at all times.
Each applicant granted a taxicab license shall be issued a license plate or card made of such material and in such form as the Township Committee shall decide, which shall at all times be kept clearly legible and be displayed on the taxicab so licensed. Said license or tag shall at all times be and remain the property of the Township and, on direction of the Township Committee, shall at once be surrendered to and deposited with the Township Clerk.
Every taxicab so licensed shall have displayed on both sides thereof the word "Taxi" or "Cab" in letters at least six inches high or the name of the operating owner containing the word "Taxi" or "Cab" or "Taxicab."
[Amended 5-20-1970 by Ord. No. 392]
Any person or person who shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine not exceeding $500 or imprisonment in the county jail for a term not exceeding 90 days, in the discretion of a court of competent jurisdiction.