[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
of the Township of Maplewood 12-3-1974 by Ord. No. 1438 as Ch. VII of the 1974
Revised General Ordinances. Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
The driving of any empty taxicab along a public street at
a slow rate of speed for the obvious purpose of soliciting passengers.
That location on or in which the vehicle is to be located
between fares or while out of service and in storage.
[Added 2-16-1988 by Ord. No. 1745]
Transporting in a taxicab one or more persons for hire. Accepting
a passenger to be transported for hire from a point of departure within
the township to a destination within or without the township shall
be considered "operation of a taxicab" within the township. The "operation
of a taxicab" by one other than the owner shall be deemed operation
by the owner as well as by the person actually driving the taxi. The
transportation of any person other than the owner or driver in any
motor vehicle bearing a sign using the words "taxi," "taxicab," "cab"
or "hack" shall be prima facie evidence of operation.
Any person in whose name title to any taxicab is registered
with the New Jersey Division of Motor Vehicles or who appears in the
Division's records to be a conditional vendee or lessee or who has
any other proprietary interest in a taxicab.
A motor vehicle used to transport passengers for hire which
does not operate over a fixed route and is not hired by the day or
hour.
No person shall keep, use or drive for hire
or wages or shall engage in the business or occupation of keeper,
owner or driver of any taxicab or other vehicle used for hire in the
transportation of passengers, with or without baggage, within the
township without first procuring a license therefor from the Township
Committee as herein provided.
[Amended 8-1-1995 by Ord. No. 1977; 5-19-2005 by Ord. No.
2294-05; 7-5-2005 by Ord. No. 2305-05; 12-6-2005 by Ord. No.
2325-05]
A.
Application information. Application for such license
shall be in writing, signed by the applicant as an individual or,
if a corporation, by a duly authorized officer thereof, shall be accompanied
by proof of insurance that each vehicle has liability insurance limits
of at least $300,000 for each vehicle licensed, and a power of attorney,
as required by statute or this chapter, and the fee provided herein;
and shall be filed in duplicate with the Township Clerk. It shall
contain the following information:
(1)
The name and address of the owner of the vehicle or
vehicles;
(2)
The number of vehicles proposed to be operated and
the place from which and the hours during which the applicant proposes
to operate the vehicles;
(3)
The make, type and registration and license plate
number of each vehicle;
(4)
A representation that the vehicles comply with all
the requirements of state law.
A.
Application.
(2)
Each applicant shall, before filing his application,
submit to fingerprinting and photographing by the Police Department.
The photographing and fingerprinting shall be a condition precedent
to the issuance of a license under this chapter. In lieu of this requirement,
the township shall accept available fingerprints on public record
elsewhere.
B.
Investigation. Upon the filing of an application,
the Township Clerk shall transmit a copy thereof to the Chief of Police,
who shall cause an investigation to be made of the applicant as to
the applicant's character, reputation and motor vehicle driving record
and shall report the results of such investigation to the Township
Committee. The report shall also state whether or not the applicant
has complied with all of the requirements of state law and this chapter.
C.
Consideration of application; expiration date. The
license shall be issued by the Township Committee to such applicants
as the Committee may determine, provided that the applicants have
complied with the statute and this chapter with respect to deposit
of an insurance policy and power of attorney, and the license shall
expire, unless sooner revoked, on the first day of January next after
the date of issuance thereof.
A.
Inspection regulations. The following regulations
shall apply:
(1)
Every taxicab duly licensed and in operation shall
be inspected by the owner daily, and each such vehicle shall be kept
in a good clean sanitary condition and shall be well-painted.
(2)
Each vehicle shall be in good mechanical condition,
with brakes, lights, windshield wipers and signaling devices in good
working order and all tires in good condition.
(3)
Each vehicle shall be inspected every six months by
the Police Department of the township in order to ensure that the
vehicle is maintained properly and is in good mechanical condition.
If the vehicle meets with the approval of the Police Department, an
emblem shall be affixed thereto indicating that the vehicle has been
duly inspected and approved. Any vehicle operated as a taxicab which
fails to have an emblem indicating the approval of the Police Department
for the six-month period shall be subject to suspension from operation,
and the Chief of Police shall have the authority to revoke the license
for the taxicab until the owner complies with the requirements herein
set forth.
[Amended 4-16-1985 by Ord. No. 1671]
B.
Additional regulations. The following additional regulations
shall apply:
(1)
Every person to whom a cab license shall be issued
shall cause the same to be displayed in a conspicuous place on each
vehicle so licensed and kept there continually while the vehicle is
in use.
(2)
Every driver of a taxicab shall be over the age of
19 years and shall, when operating a taxicab, post the license issued
to him hereunder with his photograph affixed thereto in plain view
in the taxicab. He shall also furnish and exhibit to any patron, whenever
the same shall be demanded, the name of the owner of the vehicle,
the number of his license and the schedule of maximum charges established
by this chapter for operations of taxicabs. Such schedule of maximum
charges shall be kept posted in a conspicuous place within each licensed
taxicab.
(3)
No license for the operation of a cab or other vehicle
shall be or continue in effect unless the holder thereof shall have
deposited with the Township Clerk and continue in force the insurance
policy and have executed and delivered the power of attorney required
by statute or by this chapter.
(4)
Every licensed taxicab shall conform to the provisions
of the statutes with respect to the display of the name and address
of the owner and the licensing and inspection and the use and operation
thereof.
(5)
Taxicab licenses shall be issued for a designated
place or stand only from which the cabs shall operate, and no driver
of a taxicab shall at any time cruise the streets in search of passengers.
The location of the designated place or stand shall be as regulated
in all other municipal ordinances, including but not limited to the
Municipal Zoning Ordinance.[1] Each licensed designated place or stand is to be approved
by the Construction Official.
[Amended 2-16-1988 by Ord. No. 1745]
(6)
Every holder of a taxicab license shall, during the
hours specified in his application, keep a vehicle or vehicles at
the place designated in his application except when such vehicle or
vehicles is or are actually in use on operation(s) under the license
therefor, and no owner or driver of a licensed vehicle shall refuse,
when the vehicle is not engaged, to carry any orderly person or persons
and his or their ordinary traveling baggage to or from any place or
point within the township.
C.
Fares.
[Amended 9-6-1977 by Ord. No. 1501; 7-17-1979 by Ord. No.
1535; 9-1-1981 by Ord. No. 1586; 4-16-1985 by Ord. No. 1671; 12-19-1989 by Ord. No. 1812; 3-5-1991 by Ord. No. 1846; 1-18-2000 by Ord. No.
2116-00; 9-19-2001 by Ord. No. 2174-01; 8-3-2004 by Ord. No.
2260-24; 4-15-2008 by Ord. No. 2543-08]
(1)
All rates, including any tolls charged for individuals
and shared rides by taxicabs, shall be in accordance with schedules
filed in the office of the Township Clerk and shall be conspicuously
posted in each licensed vehicle for the following:
(2)
Any change in rates shall be submitted to the Township
Clerk at least 14 days in advance of the proposed effective date.
Simultaneous with the submission of any proposed rate change to the
Township Clerk, notice of such impending charges shall be posted in
each licensed vehicle. Unless advised, in writing, by the Township
Clerk, in consultation with the Township Committee, that the proposed
rate change is not acceptable, the proposed rate change shall go into
effect.
Any license may be revoked or suspended by the
Township Committee upon good cause and for a violation of any of the
regulations herein set forth, after a hearing at which the licensee
shall be given an opportunity to be heard. Every license shall be
signed by the Chairman of the Township Committee, sealed with the
Township Seal and countersigned by the Township Clerk and shall show
the number, the date of issue and the date of expiration thereof and
shall be registered or recorded by the Township Clerk.
A.
Obtaining license. Persons intending to engage exclusively
in the business of hiring automobiles for special trips, and which
is commonly known as "limousine service," may obtain a license for
each such vehicle to be so operated for the same license fees as provided
in the case of taxicabs, both for the vehicle and the driver thereof,
and for the same term, upon making application therefor in the same
manner as for a taxicab license. Such license shall be subject to
the same requirements respecting an insurance policy and power of
attorney as in the case of taxicab licenses.
C.
Fares. No owner or driver shall make or impose a charge
or price in excess of the following schedule:
[Amended 9-6-1977 by Ord. No. 1501; 7-17-1979 by Ord. No.
1535; 9-1-1981 by Ord. No. 1586; 4-16-1985 by Ord. No. 1671; 12-19-1989 by Ord. No. 1812; 3-5-1991 by Ord. No. 1846; 1-18-2000 by Ord. No.
2116-00; 9-19-2001 by Ord. No. 2174-01]
(1)
The charge shall not exceed $28 from one starting
place in Maplewood to Newark Airport or from Newark Airport to Maplewood;
$85 plus tolls from any starting place in Maplewood to midtown New
York City or from midtown New York City to Maplewood; $110 plus tolls
from any starting place in Maplewood to Kennedy Airport or from Kennedy
Airport to Maplewood; $110 plus tolls from any starting place in Maplewood
to La Guardia Airport or from La Guardia Airport to Maplewood.
(2)
In those instances where persons from different Maplewood
addresses are transported, the charge shall not exceed an additional
$20 per address.
[Amended 4-15-2008 by Ord. No. 2543-08]
Any person who shall violate any provision of
this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine
not to exceed $1,000, and if the fine so imposed shall not be paid
within 10 days of the imposition thereof, the Township Committee may
at any time thereafter while the fine remains unpaid, and without
further notice, revoke the license under which such offender is operating.
