[Amended 9-1-2009]
The City Council licenses and regulates the
operation of taxicabs in order to protect the safety and welfare of
the public.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
DRIVER OR OPERATOR
The person driving or having control or possession of a motor
vehicle while the same is being used in a taxicab business.
OWNER
The person, firm, corporation or association having the ownership
of any vehicle used or licensed to be used in the taxicab business.
TAXICAB
Also taxi or cab. With the exception of limousines and limousine
services, every motor vehicle for hire used or to be used for the
conveyance of persons, except a motor vehicle operated in a manner
and for the purposes stated in MGL c. 159A, § 1.
TAXICAB MEDALLION
A sticker issued in concert with a taxicab license to identify
a licensed vehicle.
TAXICAB STAND
An area in the roadway in which certain taxicabs are required
to park while waiting to be engaged.
The following are the general rules and regulation
for taxicabs and taxicab operators in the City of Chicopee. A copy
of these rules and regulations shall be placed in every taxicab and
shall be available to any taxicab passenger upon request.
A. Taxicab owner's responsibilities for compliance with
regulations.
(1) All persons, firms, corporations or associations having
the ownership of any vehicle to be used as a taxicab within the jurisdictional
bounds of the City of Chicopee must obtain all permits, pay all fees
and abide by all regulations outlined in this chapter.
(2) The operation of each taxicab, recordkeeping, conduct
of taxicab drivers and operators, adherence to proper rates of hire,
and compliance with Chicopee City Code and all rules and regulations
promulgated by the Chicopee City Council and shall be the sole and
exclusive responsibility of the taxicab owners.
[Amended 9-1-2009]
B. Driver and taxicab daily logs.
(1) Taxicab owners shall ensure that drivers maintain
a daily log for each taxicab. A separate daily log shall be started
for each driver and also for each day. The daily log shall contain
the date, vehicle number, driver, time of dispatch, origin, destination,
completed time of destination, fare and number of passengers. All
revisions to daily logs shall be made by drawing a line thought the
part in error and initialed by the party making said revision, and
the correct entry made immediately below.
(2) Taxicab owners are required to collect a copy of each
taxicab driver's daily log on a daily basis and shall maintain the
daily logs for inspection by the Chief of Police or his/her designee
for a period of 24 months.
C. Taxicab service area limitations. Only taxicabs licensed
by the Chicopee City Council may pick up passengers within the limits
of the City of Chicopee. Taxicabs licensed in other cities or towns
may drop off fares in the City of Chicopee so long as the fares are
picked up in another city or town.
[Amended 9-1-2009]
D. Taxicab minimum operation volume in City limits. All
taxicabs licensed by the Chicopee City Council must conduct a minimum
of 50% of its daily operation within the limits of the City of Chicopee.
[Amended 9-1-2009]
E. Obligation to pick up passengers. No person having
charge of driving a taxicab shall refuse to carry any person asking
to be carried as a passenger therein, unless the person so asking
is exhibiting disorderly conduct or appears to be a threat to others,
including but not limited to the driver or other passengers.
F. Operation of unsafe taxicab. No driver is to knowingly
operate, as a taxicab, any vehicle that is unsafe in any way.
G. Hours of operation. Taxi services must be provided
on a twenty-four-hour basis.
H. Maximum shifts; compliance with safety laws. No taxicab
driver shall be required or permitted to operate a taxicab or remain
on duty for more than 12 hours in any 24 consecutive hours and any
such driver shall be relieved from duty for at least one period of
not fewer than eight consecutive hours during said 24 hours. All federal
and state safety laws and regulations must be complied with.
I. Taking on or discharge of passengers. No taxicab shall
be stopped to take on or to discharge passengers at any place on any
street except from the side nearest the curb.
J. Reporting of lost and found articles. Every person
having charge of or driving a taxicab shall deliver any article left
therein by any passenger to the Police Department of the City of Chicopee
no later than 24 hours after finding the same and shall receive from
the Police Department a receipt therefor, and the Police Department
shall take proper steps to return the same to the owner. All such
articles delivered to the Police Department and not claimed by the
owner within one year from such delivery may be delivered to the licensee
of the vehicle in which they were left, unless prohibited by law.
K. Routes.
(1) Fixed routes prohibited. No person operating a taxicab
shall establish and maintain therefor any route between fixed terminals
under reduced fare so as to compete with motor bus or street railway
service.
(2) Direct routes. Each taxicab owner shall ensure that
taxicab drivers shall use the most direct route available from the
point or origin to the point to destination for each trip unless otherwise
directed by the passenger, or in the case of unusual circumstances
in which an alternative route is in the best interest of the passenger.
L. Additional rules and regulations. All owners and drivers
of taxicabs shall be subject to such further rules, orders and regulations
as may from time to time be promulgated by said Council.
[Amended 9-1-2009]
M. Violations and penalties. Whoever violates any of
the provisions of this chapter or any rule, order or regulation adopted
and published by said Council relating to said business shall be punished
by a fine of not more than $100 per offense, per day.
[Amended 9-1-2009]
N. Rates.
(1) Rates to be charged. Taxicab rates per day and night
shall be set by the City Council. The rate schedule will be available
in the City Clerk's Office.
[Amended 9-1-2009]
(2) Rates to be set and posted. No owner or driver of
a taxicab shall charge any passenger or passengers therein any higher
or lower rates for any service than those that shall from time to
time be fixed by said Council. A schedule of said rates then in force
shall be delivered to every owner and every driver of a taxicab at
the time of delivery to them of their licenses, and new schedules
shall be so delivered whenever said rates may be changed. Drivers
must receive written confirmation from the Council before any rates
may be changed. Said schedule shall be posted in each cab so that
it may be easily read from the rear seat. Rates shall also be posted
on both sides of the exterior of the cab at all times in an easy-to-read
typestyle with letters and numbers no less than 3 1/2 inches
high.
[Amended 9-1-2009]
(3) Rate disputes. Whenever requested by a passenger,
or whenever there is a dispute over a fare, the taxicab driver shall
give a receipt to said passenger which shall contain the taxicab company
name, taxicab driver's full name and badge number, the taxicab number,
date, time, origin and destination of the trip in addition to the
amount charged.
O. Taxicab cleanliness and inspections. All taxicabs
must be kept clean both inside and outside at all times. All taxicabs
are subject to inspection without notice by the Chicopee Police Department,
Massachusetts State Police, and City of Chicopee Sealer of Weights
and Measures, or a duly appointed inspector for compliance with any
City ordinance or rules and regulations promulgated by the Chicopee
City Council.
[Amended 9-1-2009]
P. Taxicab operator appearance and conduct.
(1) Appearance. Every taxicab owner and taxicab driver
while operating a taxicab shall be appropriately attired at all times
while transporting passengers for hire.
(2) Language and behavior. No taxicab driver shall speak
in an obscene, boisterous, loud or abusive manner while he/she is
engaged in the transportation of passenger. Nor shall a taxicab driver
threaten, harass or abuse any passenger or use or attempt to use any
physical force against a passenger except in self-defense or in defense
of another.
(3) Smoking, eating, drinking, drugs.
(a)
No taxicab driver shall eat, drink, carry open
alcoholic beverages, nor smoke or carry a lighted cigar, cigarette,
pipe or other smoking object or device while the taxicab is in service.
(b)
No taxicab driver shall consume, be in possession
of or under the influence of alcohol or controlled substance while
operating a taxicab. No taxicab driver shall drive a taxicab while
his/her ability is impaired by any prescribed or nonprescribed drug.
Q. Driver's seat. No taxicab driver shall, while on duty,
occupy any seat in the taxicab other than the driver's seat, and at
no time shall the taxicab driver permit anyone other than him/herself
to occupy the driver's seat of said taxicab.
R. Use of taxicab in perpetuation of crime. No driver
shall knowingly permit any taxicab to be used in the perpetuation
of a crime or misdemeanor.
S. Passenger requests. A taxicab driver shall comply
with all reasonable requests of a passenger.
T. Maximum occupancy. A taxicab shall not carry more
persons that the maximum rating for the vehicle as established by
the manufacturer of said vehicle.
U. Roof lamps. Roof lamps shall be turned on when the
taxicab is operational or engaged. Roof lamps shall be turned off
when the taxicab is not operational or engaged.
[Amended 9-1-2009]
Any taxicab license shall terminate upon the
canceling or the expiring of such policy of insurance covering the
car licensed. The City Council may suspend or revoke any taxicab or
taxi operator license issued under this chapter for violation of any
law or of this chapter or of any rule, order or regulation herein
or hereafter promulgated by said Council. A notice will be provided
to the individual or company involved relative to the date and time
when such a contemplated hearing for a potential suspension or revocation
is to take place. Failure to attend such a hearing will be grounds
for immediate suspension or revocation of a license and medallion,
as determined by the Council.