[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Eatontown 11-28-1979 by Ord. No. 16-79. Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
AUTOBUS
Any automobile or motor bus, commonly called a "jitney," engaged in the transportation of passengers for hire which is operated over and upon the public streets of the Borough of Eatontown, having a carrying capacity of not more than 13 passengers if operated wholly within the limits of the Borough of Eatontown or with a carrying capacity of not more than 20 passengers if operated upon a route established wholly within the limits of the Borough of Eatontown and not more than three other contiguous municipalities. Excluded from the operation of this chapter are the following: taxicabs, school buses and autobuses regulated by and under the jurisdiction of the State of New Jersey Department of Transportation.
BOROUGH CLERK
Unless otherwise designated, the Clerk of the Borough of Eatontown.
COUNCIL
The Borough Council of the Borough of Eatontown.
PERSON
Includes person, firm or corporation.
STREET
Includes any street, alley, avenue, court, lane or public place in the Borough of Eatontown.
A. 
Before engaging in the business of operating any autobus along, through, over or on any street of the Borough of Eatontown, the owner or owners thereof shall obtain the consent of the Council, which consent shall be in the form of a license to be issued by the Borough Clerk at the direction of the Council. The driver of any autobus shall be required to have a driver's permit as herein provided and an identification card supplied by the Borough Clerk. The application for the license by the owner or owners of the autobus shall be filed with the Borough Clerk. The Council is hereby vested with the sole discretion to either grant or deny the license and, if granted, to impose such conditions thereon as it deems necessary, consistent, however, with the provisions, objectives and purposes of this chapter, and to better serve the residents of the Borough. For the purposes of this chapter, the control of the public streets in said Borough is specifically reserved to the Council. Drivers' permits may be issued by the Council to more than one driver for each autobus licensed.
B. 
Application for a license to engage in the business of operating an autobus on the streets of the Borough of Eatontown shall be made in writing and filed with the Borough Clerk and shall state:
(1) 
The route or routes to be followed in transporting passengers.
(2) 
The fare to be charged for transporting passengers between the terminuses of or intermediate points of said route or routes.
(3) 
The type of motor vehicle to be used and the name of the manufacturer or the popular name thereof.
(4) 
The horsepower, the factory number and state license number of the motor vehicle.
(5) 
The seating capacity of the proposed motor vehicle according to its trade factory rating.
(6) 
The name and address of the person to whom the autobus is registered by the State of New Jersey.
(7) 
The name, age, residence and business address of the applicant if the applicant is a natural person; if a corporation, its name, date and place of incorporation and place of business; if a partnership or association, the business names and the names of the partners or the persons comprising the partnership or association.
C. 
Upon receipt of such application, the Borough Clerk shall cause an investigation to be made of such application, and the Council is authorized hereunder to direct the Borough Clerk to issue an owner's license subject to compliance by the applicant with Subsection A of this section.
D. 
Any license issued in accordance with the application shall be valid for a period of one year from the date of issuance, and an application for renewal shall be made at least 30 days prior to the expiration date and shall contain the same information and be subject to the same procedure as a license originally issued.
E. 
The fee for the issuance of a license shall be either $75 per year or that share of the gross receipts tax to which the Borough is entitled by law under N.J.S.A. 48:16-25, depending upon the alternative the Borough Council shall fix in the resolution granting the license.
A license shall not be granted if it appears that:
A. 
The insurance policy required by law has not been furnished and approved or the same is insufficient in form or substance to properly safeguard the public interest and safety or that the policy of insurance is not operative for at least one year;
B. 
The vehicle for which the license is applied has not passed New Jersey Motor Vehicle Inspection;
C. 
The applicant has not complied with all of the terms and conditions of this chapter and of the statutes of New Jersey, in such case made and provided;
D. 
The routes applied for are already adequately served by another license; or
E. 
The use of the vehicle for which application is made is prohibited by state law.
A. 
Every applicant for a driver's permit shall, in addition to the requirements herein provided and of any law of this state, prove to the satisfaction of the Mayor and Council that:
(1) 
He is over the age of 21 years.
(2) 
He is in good health with good eyesight.
(3) 
He is not addicted to the use of intoxicating liquors or drugs.
(4) 
He is able to read and write the English language.
(5) 
He is of good moral character.
(6) 
He has not been convicted of an indictable offense or reckless driving within two years next preceding the filing of the application.
(7) 
He has knowledge of the state motor vehicle laws and traffic regulations.
(8) 
He has knowledge of the ordinances and geography of the Borough of Eatontown.
B. 
He shall furnish with the application for such driver's license a recent photograph of himself of a size not less than 1 1/4 inches in width and 1 3/4 inches in length, which photograph shall be filed with the application, together with the names and addresses of two responsible property owners of the County of Monmouth as references.
C. 
Such applicant for a driver's permit under this chapter shall be fingerprinted before the permit is issued.
D. 
All applications for drivers' permits shall be filed with the Borough Clerk in writing, in duplicate. The Borough Clerk shall submit said applications to the Mayor and Council for action at the next succeeding meeting, and any and all applications may be granted or refused by the vote of the majority of the members of said body present at such meeting.
Each driver shall pay a fee of $5 per year for a driver's permit. Each permit shall be valid for a period of one year from the date of issuance, and application for renewal shall be made in the same manner as an original application at least 30 days prior to the expiration date.
The license to engage in the business of operating an autobus or the driver's permit of the person driving an autobus may be revoked by the Council for violation of any of the provisions of this chapter or any ordinance of the Borough of Eatontown relating to traffic or the use of streets or for the violation of any state law related to traffic or the use of streets or for failure to pay any judgment for personal damages arising from the unlawful or negligent operation of the autobus for which the license or permit was issued or for failure to pay any gross receipts tax provided by law, the payment of which may have been required by the Council, and thereupon all rights and privileges under said license or permit shall terminate, and such license or permit shall be thereafter void and of no effect; provided, however, that before any such license or permit shall be revoked, the holder thereof shall be notified, in writing, of the reasons for revocation and shall be given a public hearing, at which hearing the licensee or permittee may be represented by counsel, and provided further that the licensee or permittee shall be given five days' notice of the time and place of such hearing. The notice provided for hereby shall be served personally or mailed to the address last filed by the person holding the license or permit in the office of the Borough Clerk.
The holder of any license may substitute one autobus, insured under the provisions of this chapter, for another; but before substitution, a description of such autobus shall be filed with the Borough Clerk, giving similar data concerning the substitute autobus as was originally given for the autobus first licensed. Said autobus shall be covered by an insurance endorsement, which shall be delivered to the Borough Treasurer, covering it with the same insurance as was required for the previous autobus.
It shall be unlawful for any person having procured an identification card under the provisions of this chapter to voluntarily permit any other person to use such identification card or for any person, while driving or in charge of any such autobus used in transporting passengers, to use the identification card of another person. Said identification card shall be carried at all times by the person to whom the same was issued while driving or in charge of any autobus upon the public streets of said Borough and shall be presented for inspection upon the request of any police officer desiring to inspect the same.
It shall be unlawful for any person making application hereunder for any license or permit herein required to willfully make any false statement as to any of the matters or things required to be stated on such application.
It shall be unlawful to drive any autobus while such autobus is carrying or sustaining the weight of four or more persons in excess of the seating capacity thereof according to the statement thereof contained in the application upon which the license to operate such autobus was granted or to permit any passenger to ride on the running board of such autobus or sit upon the fender or dash or doors thereof. Not more than one passenger, in addition to the driver, shall be permitted to occupy the front seat of any autobus. For the purpose of this section, children in arms shall not be considered as persons.
Any autobus operated or driven pursuant to a license granted under this chapter shall comply with the laws of the State of New Jersey relative to the condition of the vehicle and to required equipment. Any autobus shall be subject to at least one inspection per year by the Police Department of the Borough of Eatontown.
It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the business of operating an autobus from place to place and along a specified route and between specified terminuses under the license provided in this chapter unless he shall carry night and day on the inside of said autobus a sign giving the route to be traversed and the terminuses of said route, the price or fare charged and the number of the autobus, which number shall also be conspicuously displayed on the outside of said autobus.
It shall be unlawful for any person, while driving or operating such autobus along a designated or announced route, to refuse to carry any person offering himself or herself to be carried and tendering the fare for the same to any place in said route or between the terminuses thereof, unless, at the time such offer is made, the permanent seats of said autobus are fully occupied. If a request to be carried is made by any person along said route to such person driving such autobus and there is unoccupied a permanent seat or seats provided therein which may be occupied, it shall be the duty of such person driving such autobus to carry said passenger upon tender of the fare therefor; provided, however, that the person driving such autobus shall refuse transportation to any person who, at the time the demand is made to carry, is in an intoxicated condition or to any person who, at such time, may be conducting himself in a boisterous manner and who, at the time, may be using profane or obscene language. The carrying of lighted cigars, cigarettes or pipes on any autobus is also prohibited.
It shall be unlawful for any person engaged in the business of operating an autobus, in carrying passengers from place to place for hire and along a fixed and determined route between specified terminuses to charge a greater fare than the fare established in the application for which consent has been given.
It shall be unlawful for any person operating or driving such autobus to smoke tobacco or another mixture while any passengers are occupying such autobus; to allow any person to drive an autobus who is not registered as a driver as aforesaid; to operate or use any vehicle which is inadequate or unsafe for the purposes intended or insufficiently equipped with nonskid tires on rear wheels or with skid-chains or other safety devices when ice or snow are on the ground, or to operate or use a vehicle which is unsafe by reason of structural weakness or which is unsanitary or unclean; to charge any person a fare greater than is permitted by this chapter; to use or employ vile or profane language to or with passengers in said autobus or other persons; or to withhold from the Borough Clerk's office reports of all accidents in which any such autobus shall be involved more than 24 hours after such accident. Every person operating an autobus shall operate such autobus continuously, that is, day after day, unless notice of the reason for discontinuance shall be filed in the office of the Borough Clerk at the time of such discontinuance. Every such operator shall return to the office of the Borough Clerk any article found in his or her autobus within 24 hours after finding same. Every operator shall have the privilege of requiring all persons to leave his or her autobus upon arrival at the turning point or terminus of the route. Every operator of such autobus shall, upon receiving a new license number from the State Motor Vehicle Department, notify at once the Borough Clerk of the change of number, filing the new number at said office.
It shall be unlawful for any person operating such autobus to drink intoxicating liquors of any kind while engaged in the transporting of a passenger for hire as herein set forth.
It shall be unlawful for any person operating such autobus to permit, cause or allow such autobus to cross any railroad tracks at any intersecting street in the Borough of Eatontown over which railroad trains are operated unless such person shall have reduced the speed of such autobus to not more than 12 miles per hour while crossing such track. Such autobus shall be brought to a full stop before starting to cross such track.
A. 
It shall be unlawful for any persons to stop for the purpose of receiving or discharging passengers within 10 feet of intersections of streets, and, in all cases, such reception and discharge of all passengers shall be at a point as near the curb as is practicable.
B. 
It shall be unlawful for any person driving or operating such autobus to permit passengers to enter or leave such autobus except through and from the side of such autobus nearest the street curb on the right-hand side thereof.
C. 
Bus stops shall be approved by the Borough Council of the Borough of Eatontown.
No license to engage in the business of operating an autobus pursuant to this chapter shall be issued until an insurance policy or certificate in lieu thereof as provided for autobuses in accordance with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 48:16-24 shall be filed with the Borough Treasurer; except, however, that such insurance policy shall be written for each autobus in the sum of not less than $500,000 against loss by reason of the liability imposed by law upon the autobus owner or driver for damages on account of bodily injury or death suffered by one person as a result of an accident accruing by reason of the ownership, maintenance or use of the autobus upon any public street, and the sum of $1,000,000 against loss by reason of liability imposed by law upon the autobus owner or driver for damages on account of bodily injury or death suffered by more than one person as a result of an accident occurring by reason of the ownership, maintenance or use of the autobus, and in the amount of $25,000 for property damage occurring by reason of the ownership, maintenance or use of the autobus upon the public street.
A power of attorney shall be executed and delivered to the Borough Treasurer concurrently with the filing of the insurance policy referred to in § 101-20, wherein and whereby the licensee shall nominate, constitute and appoint the Borough Treasurer its true and lawful attorney for the purpose of acknowledging service of any process issued out of a court of competent jurisdiction to be served against the insured by virtue of the indemnity granted under the insurance policy so filed.
The route to be followed within the Borough of Eatontown shall be subject to approval by the Borough Council. No route shall parallel the route on the same street of any autobus operating under the regulation of the Department of Transportation; provided, however, that any autobus licensed hereunder may parallel the same route on the same street of such regulated autobus subject to the condition that it shall not pick up or discharge passengers on said portion of the route.
Any person who shall violate any provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not to exceed the sum of $500 or by imprisonment for a period not exceeding 90 days, or both.