[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council
of the Borough of Ridgefield 11-6-1974 by Ord. No. 992 as Ch. 105 of the 1967
Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The following words and phrases and their derivatives,
when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings hereafter ascribed
to them:
The Borough of Ridgefield, in the County of Bergen and State
of New Jersey.
Any person, corporation or association in whose name title
to any taxicab is registered with the New Jersey Department of Motor
Vehicles or who appears in such records to be the conditional vendee
or lessee thereof.
Licensed in accordance with the appropriate section of this
chapter, unless otherwise stated.
Shall consist of transporting in such taxicab one or more
persons for hire along any of the streets of this Borough. Accepting
a passenger to be transported for hire within this Borough or from
a point within this Borough to a point outside of the Borough limits,
or discharging a passenger transported for hire from a point outside
of the Borough limits to a point within the Borough limits, shall
be deemed to be "operation of a taxicab" within the meaning thereof.
The operation of a taxicab in any of the above-described manners by
one other than the owner shall be deemed operation by the owner thereof
as well as by the person actually driving the same. The transportation
of any person other than the owner or driver in any motor vehicle
bearing sign therein or thereon using the words "taxi," "taxicab,"
"cab" or "hack" shall be prima facie evidence of operation.
Includes the plural as well as singular, and artificial as
well as natural persons.
Means and includes any automobile or motor vehicle 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 Borough
of Ridgefield and which particularly accepts and discharges such persons
as may offer themselves for transportation from points or places to
points or places within or without the Borough.
From and after the effective date of this chapter,
no person shall operate any taxicab within this Borough unless both
the taxicab and the driver thereof are licensed pursuant to this chapter
and conform to all the provisions hereof.
There are hereby established two classes of
taxicab licenses, to be known as "taxicab driver's license" and "taxicab
owner's license," respectively.
A taxicab driver's license shall entitle the
person named therein to operate within this Borough any taxicab duly
licensed hereunder until said license either expires or is surrendered,
suspended or revoked and shall not be transferable.
A taxicab owner's license shall entitle the
taxicab therein described to be operated in this Borough by a driver
duly licensed hereunder until said license either expires or is surrendered,
suspended or revoked and shall not be transferable.
Any licenses issued pursuant to the terms of
this chapter shall expire at 12:00 midnight of the 31st day of December
of the year in which it was issued, unless sooner surrendered, suspended
or revoked.
The total number of taxicab owners' licenses
that may be issued and outstanding at any one time is hereby fixed
at three. Until the number of existing taxicab owners' licenses is
reduced to fewer than three no new taxicab owners' licenses shall
be issued.
A.
All applications for the issuance or renewal of any
license of either class shall be made to the Borough Council on forms
adopted by said Council and obtained from the Borough Clerk and designed
to elicit information respecting the identification, responsibility
and law-abiding habits of the applicant.
B.
The Borough Clerk is hereby authorized to issue temporary taxicab drivers' licenses pending the approval, by the Borough Council, of any application for a taxicab driver's license submitted in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, provided that the Chief of Police of the Borough of Ridgefield shall first certify to the Borough Clerk that, after due investigation, the applicant is not ineligible under the provisions of § 361-16 of this chapter.
Each applicant for a license of any class shall
supply the information requested on the application, in full, and
verify the correctness thereof by his oath or affirmation, and thereafter
file the completed application with the Borough Clerk, together with
the full amount of the proper fee hereinafter fixed therefor.
Each applicant for a taxicab driver's license
shall file with his application two photographs, each 3 1/2 inches
in size, clearly depicting the facial features of the applicant, both
of which photographs shall thereupon become the property of the Borough
and be retained with the application form unless the application shall
be issued, in which event one of the photographs shall be permanently
affixed to the license card in a space provided therein.
Each applicant for a taxicab driver's license
shall be fingerprinted by the Police Department of the Borough of
Ridgefield, which fingerprints shall thereupon become the property
of the Borough and be retained with the application form.
Each applicant for a taxicab owner's license
shall have a regularly registered business office and shall therein
have a telephone operating.
Every applicant for a taxicab owner's license
shall submit the insurance policy or bond required by N.J.S.A. 48:16-3
and 48:16-4 covering the taxicab to be licensed and shall execute
and deliver to the Borough Clerk, concurrently with the filing of
the policy or bond aforesaid, a power of attorney, wherein and whereby
the owner shall appoint the Borough Clerk his 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 or bond filed
in accordance with N.J.S.A. 48:16-5.
The Borough Clerk, upon filing of the required
insurance policy or bond, shall issue a certificate in duplicate,
showing that the owner of the taxicab has complied with the terms
of the Revised Statutes aforementioned, which certificate shall recite
the name of the insurance company, the number and date of expiration
of the policy or bond, a description of the taxicab insured thereunder
and the registration number of the same. The duplicate certificate
shall be filed with the Department of Motor Vehicles before any such
car is licensed as a taxicab. The original certificate shall be posted
in a conspicuous place within the taxicab.
The annual fee for each taxicab driver's license
hereafter issued, or any renewal thereof, shall be $3 for each year
or portion of a year for which the license is issued or renewed, and
the annual fee for each taxicab owner's license issued or renewed
shall be $25 for each taxicab for each year or a portion of a year
for which the license is issued or renewed, and all of such licenses
shall be under the charge and control of the person applying therefor,
and he shall be responsible for the operation of all cars so licensed
to him.
The Borough Council may, in its discretion,
refuse to issue or renew or may, after notice and hearing, revoke
or suspend:
A.
Any license of either class if the applicant or licensee
has been once convicted of a crime in this or any other jurisdiction
or convicted of being a disorderly person or of a violation of Title
39, Motor Vehicles and Traffic Regulation, of the Revised Statutes
of New Jersey or who has been dishonorably discharged from the Armed
Forces of the United States of America or who violates any provision
of this chapter or has any judgment unsatisfied of record against
him arising out of an automobile accident or who is an alien citizen
of any nation between which and the United States of America a state
of war exists or who has made false answers in his application for
such license or any renewal thereof or who has failed or fails to
render reasonably prompt, safe and adequate taxicab service or who
has not complied fully with all requirements of this chapter for such
class of license;
B.
Any taxicab driver's license if the licensee or applicant
has in any degree contributed to any injury to person or damage to
property arising out of negligent operation of a motor vehicle or
has any communicable or contagious disease; or
C.
Any taxicab owner's license if the motor vehicle licensed
or to be licensed, by reason of unsafe or unsanitary conditions, is
dangerous to the safety or health of the occupants or others or if
the policy of insurance or bond or power of attorney required by N.J.S.A.
48:16-3, 48:16-4 and 48:16-5 aforementioned has not been furnished
or kept in force or if said owners fail to comply with any terms or
conditions imposed by the Borough Council or any law of this state.
Each applicant granted a taxicab driver's license
shall be issued a license card in evidence thereof, in a form approved
by Borough Council and signed by the Borough Clerk in its behalf.
Such license card shall at all times be prominently displayed and
adequately protected, in the interior of any taxicab operated by the
licensee, so that the face thereof shall be at all times in full view
of and plainly legible to any passenger seated on the rear seat of
such taxicab, and said license card shall at all times be and remain
the property of the Borough and on direction of Borough Council shall
at once be surrendered to the Borough Clerk.
No taxicab driver's license card, other than
that of the licensee actually operating the taxicab at the time, shall
be displayed therein.
The Borough Council shall, at the time the Borough
Council acts on any application, pay the fees received therefor over
to the Borough Treasurer.
No taxicab shall hereafter be operated in this
Borough unless and until there is prominently displayed in the interior
thereof, within the full view and access of any passengers therein,
a complete list of fares, charges or tariff rates charged for transportation
of passengers, which fares, charges or tariff rates so displayed,
and no other, shall be those to be charged any passenger so transported.
Every person so licensed as aforesaid shall
not refuse to carry local fares or passengers.
Owners and drivers of taxicabs licensed out
of the jurisdiction of this Borough may be allowed to enter their
taxicabs in this Borough, but on specific call only, whether transporting
a passenger within this Borough (or from a point within this Borough)
to a point outside the Borough limits or discharging a passenger transported
from a point outside of the Borough limits to a point within the Borough
limits, and the name of the passenger so calling shall be given by
the owner or driver when requested by the Borough police or other
lawful persons. Such taxicabs shall not be parked in this Borough,
nor shall the drivers thereof cruise on the streets of this Borough
at any time for the purpose of soliciting passengers, nor shall they,
in the nighttime or other periods of darkness, when in this Borough,
permit any advertising lights on the taxicab to remain unlighted;
provided, however, that the same or similar substantial reciprocal
rights are granted to owners and drivers of taxicabs licensed in this
Borough by the municipalities in which the aforesaid owners or drivers
are licensed.
A.
All vehicles herein required to be licensed, used
or operated for the carrying of passengers within the scope of this
chapter shall be automobile sedans with a minimum of three doors;
at least two of said doors shall be for the exclusive use of the passengers.
Said automobiles shall at all times be clean and in good repair and
shall be subject to inspection by the Ridgefield Police Department
or by the Borough Council.
B.
Each and every taxicab operating in the Borough of
Ridgefield shall have installed therein a taximeter or the equivalent
thereof, of standard make, by which the fare or charge for hire of
said taxicab is mechanically and accurately calculated and registered
and on which said taximeter said charge is plainly indicated. Said
taximeter is to be so placed in the taxicab that the charge thereof
may be plainly seen by the passengers.
C.
No person shall use or permit to be used upon any
taxicab a taximeter which shall be in such a condition as to be over
5% incorrect to the prejudice of any passenger.
D.
After sundown, the face of every taximeter shall be
illuminated by a suitable light so arranged as to throw a continuous
steady light thereon while in operation and carrying a passenger so
that the meter will be clearly discernible and can be read by a passenger
in the rear seat.
E.
Every taxicab shall be equipped with a top light or
dome light which shall be so connected with the taximeter that while
the taxicab is in operation and carrying a passenger the top light
or dome light shall be extinguished.
F.
Said taximeter shall be sealed and a colored paster,
different in color at each inspection, shall be placed on the taximeter
after inspection.
G.
No person shall use or permit to be used or drive
for hire a taxicab equipped with a taximeter the case of which is
unsealed or the seal broken.
A.
Every vehicle licensed hereunder shall have fastened
in a conspicuous place therein a printed card showing the rates provided
for in this chapter, in letters and figures of not less than 1/2 inch
in height.
B.
Every vehicle licensed hereunder shall have posted
on both front doors or both rear doors of said vehicle the rates provided
for in this chapter, in figures of not less than 2 1/2 inches
in height and letters of not less than one inch in height.
No taxicab or hack owner or driver shall permit
any licensed taxicab or hack to be used for any illegal or immoral
purposes.
Immediately after termination of any hiring
or use by the public of any taxicab or hack, the driver of said taxicab
or hack shall carefully search upon taxicab or hack for any property
lost or left therein, and any such property, unless sooner claimed
or delivered to the owner, must be reported in writing by the driver
or the owner of the taxicab or hack to the Ridgefield Police Department,
with brief particulars and a description of the property, within 24
hours after the finding thereof.
Every licensed owner or driver shall record
in writing the time and place, when and where, each passenger was
accepted, as well as the time and place of the discharge of the passenger,
which record shall remain intact for 90 days from the time thereof,
which record shall be kept open at all times for inspection by a representative
of the Ridgefield Police Department or the Borough Council.
Every licensed owner shall record in a book
kept solely for such purpose the time of departure from the garage
of every licensed vehicle, giving the name and address of the driver
thereof, his license number and the license number of the vehicle,
and the time of return to the garage of such vehicle, which book shall
be kept open for inspection at all times by a representative of the
Ridgefield Police Department or the Borough Council.
Every driver of a taxicab or hack shall, when
requested, give a passenger a receipt for the fare paid.
While engaged in operating a taxicab or hack,
the driver of said vehicle shall behave himself or herself in an orderly
manner and shall not use any indecent, profane or insulting language
while engaged in such operation.
At all times the driver of a taxicab or a hack
must be clean-shaven and present a neat and orderly appearance.
[Amended 3-25-1985 by Ord. No. 1281; 6-28-2010 by Ord. No. 2133]
A.
If this chapter of the Code of the Borough of Ridgefield
provides for the licensing or permitting of the violator, the Mayor
and Council of the Borough of Ridgefield reserve the right to revoke
such permit or license.
B.
Any person found guilty of violating this chapter
of the Code of the Borough of Ridgefield shall be subject to a penalty
consisting of a fine or imprisonment, or both, subject to the discretion
of the Judge, the maximum of which shall be the maximum fine or term
of imprisonment permitted to be imposed by the court having jurisdiction
over the violation of this chapter of the Code of the Borough of Ridgefield;
provided, however, that the fine shall not be less than $100 nor more
than $2,000 per offense and the prison term shall not exceed 90 days
in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:49-5.
C.
In the event of a continuing violation, each day shall
constitute a separate offense.
The owner of each taxicab licensed under this
chapter shall file with the Borough Clerk, on February 1 and July
1 of each year, a certification from the manufacturer of each meter
that it has been inspected and that it is in proper working order.
