For the purposes of this chapter, the following words and phrases
shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:
means one established only upon private property.
means one for the common use of all licensees under Section 5.44.040.
means each vehicle used or designed to be used for the conveyance
of persons for hire from place to place within the city, except a
street railway car or trackless trolley vehicle, within the meaning
of Section 2 of Chapter 163 of the General Laws, or a motor vehicle,
known as a jitney, operated in the manner and for the purposes set
forth in Chapter 159A of the General Laws, or a sightseeing automobile
licensed under Chapter 399 of the Acts and Resolves of the 1931 Massachusetts
Legislature.
(Prior revision § 18-1; C.O. 83-52 § 34)
Except as otherwise provided in the General Laws of the commonwealth, the chief of police shall have exclusive authority to make rules and orders for the regulation of taxicabs and taxicab stands, within the city, with penalties for the violation thereof not exceeding the penalty set forth in Section 1.16.010 of this revision. Such rules and regulations and orders shall not take effect until they have been published at least once in a newspaper published in the city.
(Prior revision § 18-2; C.O. 83-52 § 35)
A.
No person
shall drive, operate or have charge of a taxicab, nor shall any person
set up and use a taxicab for hire in the city, unless licensed to
do so by the chief of police of the city; nor shall any person having
the care or custody of such vehicle in the city suffer or allow any
person other than a driver or operator so licensed to drive such a
vehicle.
B.
No person
shall offer for hire or operate a hackney, carriage or other vehicle
for the purpose of transporting, soliciting or picking up passengers
for hire within the city unless licensed to do so by the chief of
police of the city.
(Prior revision § 18-3)
A.
The
chief of police shall annually grant taxicab licenses in the city
to suitable persons who are owners of vehicles known as taxicabs,
if such person, or one member of such firm, has resided in the city
for a minimum of two years preceding application for license, or if
the principal place of business of such corporation is in the city.
B.
No license
shall be issued to any person or firm which contains any member therein
who has a criminal record for larceny, deceit, robbery, breaking to
enter, rape, attempted rape, concerned in a lottery, illegal sale
of alcoholic beverages, or any immoral conduct which, in the opinion
of the chief of police, is unsuitable for the care of passengers in
taxicabs. The chief of police may, in the chief's discretion, issue
a license to an applicant who has a criminal record for any of the
above offenses in which the last conviction thereof is more than five
years immediately preceding the date of the application for license,
or petition for assignment of transfer of license.
(Prior revision § 18-4)
Licenses granted under this chapter shall be assignable, subject
to the approval of the chief of police, and shall be subject of such
other terms, conditions and limitations, and be issued subject to
the payment of such fees and costs, as the chief of police shall from
time to time prescribe.
(Prior revision § 18-5)
At any time within one year after expiration of a license issued
under this chapter, the holder thereof shall be entitled as of right,
upon payment of the proper fee, to a renewal of such license, unless
after a hearing before the chief of police it appears that the chief
has good cause to issue the same.
(Prior revision § 18-6)
A.
The
chief of police shall fix a limit for the number of licenses to be
issued under this chapter, which limit shall be based upon the number
of licenses then issued and outstanding but shall not be in excess
of seventy-five, and the chief may from time to time, after reasonable
notice and hearing, decrease the limit so fixed, but in no event to
a number less than fifty. If an applicant is refused a license under
the provisions of this chapter by reason of the fact that the maximum
number of licenses limited under this chapter has been issued, the
city council, on petition of such applicant, may, after a hearing,
determine that public convenience and necessity require a higher limit
than that fixed by the chief of police, or previously established
by the city council, and shall establish the limit so required, in
which case the limit set by the council shall be considered final
until again changed as provided in this section.
B.
This
chapter shall not affect, in any way, the rights of any existing licensee
to any annual renewal of that license under the provisions of this
chapter. Until further notice or action by the chief of police, licenses
may be granted to the number established before the effective date
of the ordinance from which this chapter derives; except, that no
further original license shall be granted until the number of the
taxicab licenses outstanding has been reduced to less than fifty by
cancellation or revocation or the failure of holders of licenses to
apply for renewals, and thereafter taxicab licenses may be granted
only up to a total set by the chief of police as instructed under
this chapter or to future limits set by the city council.
(Prior revision § 18-7)
The chief of police shall from time to time fix and establish
uniform rates of fare to be charged by licensees under the provisions
of this chapter for use of taxicabs, and no person licensed under
this chapter shall charge or collect any fare in excess of the rate
established and shall not offer service at less cost than the established
rate set by the chief of police.
(Prior revision § 18-8)
All taxicabs shall have affixed thereto, facing the passenger,
a taximeter of the size and design approved by the chief of police,
and the use of such taximeter shall be mandatory when such taxicab
is engaged for hire. No taxicab shall be licensed to be used as a
vehicle to transport passengers for hire until the taximeter attached
thereto has been officially approved by the sealer of weights and
measures. After sundown the face of every taximeter shall be illuminated
by a suitable light, so arranged as to throw a continuous steady light
thereon. All operators of taxicabs in the city shall comply with the
provisions of Sections 41, 42, 43, and 45 of Chapter 98 of the General
Laws. At any time, upon order of the chief of police, a licensee shall
have his or her taximeter reinspected.
(Prior revision § 18-9)
For the purposes of this chapter, the chief of police is authorized
to set up a special division within the police department, assign
officers to supervise and enforce the provisions of this chapter and
all ordinances, regulations and orders pertaining to this chapter,
and to collect all fees established by law for licenses and any additional
costs assigned to each licensee for identification badges, medallions,
etc., and submit such collection to the office of the city treasurer
on the first day of the month succeeding such collection.
(Prior revision § 18-10)
Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall
forfeit and pay a fine not exceeding two hundred dollars for each
offense and any licensed owner or driver or operator under the provisions
of this chapter who violates any of the provisions of this chapter
shall, in addition to such penalty, thereupon become liable to suspension
and forfeiture of that person's license, and may be disqualified to
hold a license thereafter.
(Prior revision § 18-11; C.O. 86-99 § 1)
