[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee (now Township Council) of the Township of Pohatcong 6-12-1984. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Vehicles and traffic — See Ch. 271.
Motor-driven vehicles — See Ch. 274.
For the purposes of this chapter, the terms used herein are defined as follows:
PERSON
Any individual, copartnership, association or corporation or joint-stock company, their lessees, trustees or receivers.
TAXICAB
Any automobile or motorcar, commonly called "taxi," engaged in the business of carrying passengers for hire, which is held out, announced or advertised to operate or run, or which is operated or run, over any of the streets within the Township of Pohatcong, and particularly accepts and discharges such persons as may offer themselves for transportation from points or places within or without said township, provided that nothing herein contained shall be construed to affect any public conveyance which is by law subject to state and/or federal regulation exclusively.
From and after the effective date of this chapter, no person shall pick up for hire any persons for any taxicab within the Township of Pohatcong unless both the taxicab and driver thereof are licensed pursuant to the terms of the chapter and conform to all the provisions thereof.
It shall be unlawful to engage in the business of operating a taxicab in the Township of Pohatcong without having secured a license therefor. Applications for such licenses shall be made in writing and in duplicate to the Township Clerk and shall state therein the name and address of the applicant, the intended place of business and the number of taxicabs to be operated, including the serial number, type, color, age, make and seating capacity thereof. If the applicant is a corporation, the names and addresses of the president and secretary shall be given. A complete financial statement of the applicant shall accompany the application. The number of such licenses outstanding shall not exceed three at any time. All applicants must file a financial statement with their application.
The Chief of Police, or a member of the Police Department designated by him, shall conduct an investigation of each applicant for a taxicab license or taxicab operator's license and make a report of such investigation, and a copy of the traffic and police record of said applicant, if any, shall be attached to the application.
No taxicab license or taxicab driver's license shall be issued:
A. 
To an individual who has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude or who is less than 21 years of age.
B. 
To a copartnership unless none of the members thereof have been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude and none of whom is less than 21 years of age.
C. 
To the applicant for a taxicab driver's license unless he shall submit a certificate from a licensed physician of the State of New Jersey, at the applicant's expense, certifying that the applicant has been examined within the preceding 30 days and that he has no infirmity of body or mind which might render him unfit for the safe operation of a taxicab.
D. 
To a corporation unless none of the officers, directors and stockholders thereof have been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude and none of whom is less than 21 years of age.
If the Township Committee[1] finds that the applicant for a taxicab license is fit, willing and able to perform such public transportation and to conform to the provisions of this chapter, then, upon payment of the proper fee by the applicant, the Township Clerk shall issue a taxicab license stating the name and address of the applicant, the number and description of vehicles authorized under such license, the approved location of the cabstand and the date of issuance thereof.
[1]
Editor's Note: Now Township Council.
If the Township Committee finds that the applicant for a driver's license is fit and conforms to the provisions of this chapter, then, upon payment of the proper fee by the applicant, the Township Clerk shall issue a license upon which shall appear the name, address, age, signature, company employed by and photograph of the applicant.
The Township Committee[1] shall, after consideration of the application for a taxicab driver's license and the reports and certificate required to be attached thereon, approve or reject the application for a taxicab driver's license. If the application for a taxicab driver's license is rejected, the applicant, within 30 days, may request a personal appearance before the Township Committee to offer evidence why his application should be reconsidered. The Township Committee may refuse to grant or renew a taxicab driver's license in the case of any applicant:
A. 
Whose state automobile driver's license or permit to operate a taxicab has been suspended or revoked.
B. 
Who has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude.
C. 
Who shall have been convicted of a violation of laws pertaining to intoxicants, narcotics or prostitution.
D. 
Who for just cause is deemed by the Township Committee unfit to drive a taxicab.
[1]
Editor's Note: Now Township Council.
A. 
The annual taxicab license fee shall be $20 for the first taxicab to be covered by the taxicab license and $10 for each additional taxicab under said license, and the license shall be effective for the period from January 1 to December 31 of each calendar year or part thereof. Taxicab licenses shall expire on December 31. A taxicab license for each calendar year thereafter shall be issued upon the payment of the aforesaid fee to the Township Clerk.
B. 
The annual taxicab driver's license fee shall be $2, and the license shall be effective for the period from January 1 to December 31 of each calendar year or part thereof. A taxicab driver's license shall be issued upon the payment of $2 unless the license for the preceding year has been revoked.
No taxicab shall be licensed or operated until it has been inspected and approved for operation by the Chief of Police of the Township of Pohatcong. It shall be the duty of the Chief of Police to make a quarterly inspection of all cabs licensed under this chapter to determine their fitness and serviceability for public patronage. He may, at any time during the year, suspend the operation of a taxicab which, in his judgment, is unfit for service.
No taxicab license shall be issued until the applicant therefor shall have filed with the Township Clerk an insurance policy of a company duly licensed to transact business under the insurance laws of this state, or certificate thereof, showing policy limits of not less than $50,000 property damage and $100,000/$300,000 personal injury and liability coverage.
There shall be affixed in every taxicab, in such manner that the same can be conveniently read by any person therein, a card at least three inches in height by five inches in length, containing the name of the owner, the license number of the vehicle and year of issue.
No taxicab license shall be issued until the applicant therefor shall have delivered to said Township Clerk, concurrently with the filing of the insurance policy referred to in § 250-13 hereof, a power of attorney executed by said applicant wherein and whereby said applicant shall appoint the Clerk of the Township of Pohatcong as his, her or its true and lawful attorney for the purpose of acknowledging service of any process out of a court of competent jurisdiction to be served against the insured by virtue of the indemnity granted under the insurance policy filed, and any license for a taxicab issued upon any such application shall continue effective and the operation of any taxicab thereunder shall be permitted only so long as said power of attorney shall remain in effect and unrevoked.
Drivers of taxicabs shall not receive or discharge passengers in the roadway but shall pull up to the right-hand sidewalk as nearly as possible, or in the absence of a sidewalk, to the extreme right-hand side of the road and there receive or discharge passengers, except upon one-way streets, where passengers may be discharged on either the right-hand or the left-hand sidewalk, or side of the roadway in the absence of a sidewalk.
No driver shall permit more than a maximum number of five adults or five children to be carried in a taxicab. A child in the arms of an adult should not be counted as a passenger. No driver may refuse or neglect to convey any orderly person or persons upon their request unless previously engaged or unable to or forbidden by the provisions of this chapter to do so.
All persons engaged in the taxicab business in the Township of Pohatcong shall maintain a central place of business and keep the same open 24 hours a day for the purpose of receiving calls and dispatching cabs. They shall answer all calls received by them for service inside the corporate limits of the township as soon as they can do so, and if said service cannot be rendered within a reasonable time, they shall then notify prospective passengers how long it will be before the said call can be answered and give the reason therefor. Any operator who shall refuse to accept a call anywhere in the corporate limits of the township at any time when such operator has available cabs, or who shall fail to give overall service, shall be deemed a violator of this chapter, and the license granted shall be revoked at the discretion of the Township Committee.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Now Township Council.
The owner and/or operator of a taxicab business must provide a garage or off-street parking area for all taxicabs licensed under this chapter. It shall be deemed a violation of this chapter to park a taxicab on the public streets, highways, alleys or other public places in the Township of Pohatcong.
A. 
An applicant for a taxicab driver's license must be a citizen over the age of 21 years, a licensed driver of the State of New Jersey, in good health, of good moral character and familiar with the traffic laws of the State of New Jersey and the ordinances and geography of the Township of Pohatcong. The Chief of Police shall examine such applicant to determine his eligibility and competency, and no license shall be issued except on certification of the Chief of Police that the applicant is qualified for such license. The applicant must furnish with his application a recent photograph of himself, 1 1/4 inches by 1 3/4 inches, and shall submit to fingerprinting by the Police Department of the Township of Pohatcong. He shall also provide two character references.
B. 
Before a taxicab driver's license shall be issued:
(1) 
The applicant shall supply a doctor's certificate of good health.
(2) 
The applicant shall supply references from persons who are not related to the applicant or associated with the taxicab company or the issuing authority. Such reference shall send a letter certifying his knowledge of the applicant's background.
(3) 
Applicants shall be required to satisfactorily complete a road driving test to be administered by a Pohatcong Township police officer.
(4) 
The applicant shall be free from any criminal record, local, state or federal, and the application shall be approved by the Chief of Police.
C. 
Failure to meet any of the above requirements shall be sufficient grounds to reject any application or to revoke a taxicab driver's license. Any false statement on the application or an incomplete application shall also be sufficient grounds to reject the application or to revoke said license.
A. 
It shall be unlawful for any driver of a taxicab while on duty to drink any intoxicating liquor, use narcotic or habit-producing drugs, to use any profane or obscene language, to shout or call to prospective passengers or to disturb the peace in any way.
B. 
No driver shall permit more persons to be carried in a taxicab than the rated seating capacity of his taxicab.
C. 
No person shall be admitted to a taxicab occupied by a passenger without the consent of the passenger.
It shall be the duty of every driver of a taxicab to obey all traffic rules established by statute or ordinance. He shall not solicit passengers at the terminal of any other common carrier, nor at any intermediate points along any established routes of any other common carrier during hours buses are operating.
It shall be the duty of the driver of any taxicab to accept as a passenger any person who seeks to use the taxicab, provided that such person is not intoxicated and conducts himself in an orderly manner.
All changes of address of the taxicab operator or taxicab driver shall be reported, in writing, to the Township Clerk within 24 hours after such change takes place.
A. 
The Township Committee[1] is given authority to suspend or revoke any taxicab driver's license issued under this chapter for failure to comply with the provisions of this chapter or qualify at present for a license.
[1]
Editor's Note: Now Township Council.
B. 
Suspension or revocation of a taxicab driver's license may be appealed to the Township Committee within 30 days. Every driver licensed under this chapter shall comply with all township, state and federal laws. Failure to do so will justify suspension or revocation of this license.
All licensees hereunder shall agree upon and accept a uniform rate schedule, which shall be subject to review by the Township Committee and the Public Utility Commission, if requested, a schedule of which shall be filed with the Township Clerk and posted within each vehicle in ready view of all passengers.
The making of false statements and/or the disclosure thereof in any application or record required by this chapter shall constitute a violation of this chapter, invalidate the application and cause immediate revocation of any license so issued.
The owner and/or operator of a taxicab business shall give 60 days' notice to the township of the discontinuance or stoppage of the taxicab service unless such discontinuance or stoppage is occasioned by court order.
Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be punishable by a fine not exceeding $500 or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. In the event that the person violating any provision of this chapter is a corporation, the officers, agents or employees thereof who shall violate or procure, aid or abet any violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, or permit the operation of any taxicab contrary to the requirements hereof, shall be subject to the same penalties as if they, themselves, were personally operating such taxicab at the time such violations were committed.