[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 the holder of any license issued under this
chapter to transfer the same to any other person.
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.
It is intended that this chapter shall be subject to and not in conflict
with the rules and regulations of the State Department of Transportation.