[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Franklin 2-15-1971 as Ord. No. O-2-71. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Vehicles and traffic — See Ch. 373.
The following words and phrases and their derivatives when used in this chapter shall have the meanings hereafter ascribed to them:
OPERATION OF TAXICAB
Transporting in such taxicab one or more persons for hire along any of the streets of this township, accepting a passenger to be transported for hire within this township or from a point within this township to a point outside the township limits, or discharging a passenger transported for hire from a point outside the township limits to a point within the township limits shall be deemed to be operation of a taxicab within the township within the meaning thereof. The operation of a taxicab in any of the above-described methods 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 the sign thereon or therein using the word "taxi," "taxicab," "cab," "hack" or term word of similar connotation shall be prima facie evidence of operation.
DRIVER
Any person who drives a taxicab within the township.
LICENSED
Licensed in accordance with the appropriate section of this chapter.
OWNER
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.
PERSONS
Includes the plural as well as the singular and artificial as well as natural persons.
TAXICAB
Any automobile or motor car, 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 of the Township of Franklin in the County of Gloucester, and which accepts passengers in the township for transportation from points or places to point or places within or without the said township, provided that nothing herein contained shall include or apply to public conveyances which are by law subject to state or federal regulations exclusively.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of Franklin, in the County of Gloucester and State of New Jersey.
From and after the effective date of this chapter, no person shall operate any taxicab within this township unless both the taxicab and the driver thereof are licensed pursuant to this chapter and conform to all the provisions thereof.
There are hereby established two classes of taxicab licenses, to be known as "taxicab driver's licenses" and "taxicab owner's licenses," respectively.
A "taxicab driver's license" shall entitle the person named therein to operate within the township any taxicab duly licensed hereunder until the 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 township by a driver duly licensed hereunder until the license either expires or is surrendered, suspended or revoked, and shall not be transferable, except as provided herein.
Every license issued pursuant to the terms of this chapter shall expire at 12:00 midnight of the 28th day of February of the year next succeeding in which it was issued, unless sooner surrendered, suspended or revoked.
A. 
Every applicant for a driver's license 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 he is over the age of 21 years; that he is in good health with good eyesight; that he is not addicted to the use of intoxicating liquors or drugs; that he is able to read and write the English language; that he is of good character; that he has not been convicted of any indictable offense or of reckless driving within two years next preceding the filing of such application; that he has knowledge of the state motor vehicle laws and traffic regulations; and that he has knowledge of the ordinances and geography of the Township of Franklin. 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 height and 1 3/4 inches in length which shall be filed with the application, together with the names and addresses of two responsible property owners of the Township of Franklin as references. Such applicant for a driver's license under this chapter shall, before the license is issued, be fingerprinted.
B. 
All applications for driver's licenses shall be filed with the Township Clerk in writing, in duplicate, who shall submit said applications to the Mayor and Township Committee at the next succeeding meeting for action, and any or all applications may be granted or refused by the vote of the majority of the members of said body present at said meeting.
A. 
All applications for taxicab owner's licenses shall be in writing, in duplicate, and shall contain the full name and address of the owner, the serial number, the type, color, age and make of the taxicab, the number of persons it is to carry and the names and addresses of two responsible property owners of the Township of Franklin as references. Any and all changes of address of the owner shall be reported in writing to the Township Clerk within three days after such date.
B. 
All applications shall be filed with the Township of Franklin's Township Clerk, who shall submit said applications to the Township Committee at the next succeeding meeting for action, and any or all applications may be granted or refused by the majority vote of the members of said body present at such meeting.
C. 
An existing owner's license may be transferred upon the transferee filing the applications and performing all the other things to be performed in the case of an application for owner's license, as required herein.
No taxicab shall be licensed until an insurance policy, or certificate in lieu thereof, and power of attorney executed shall have been filed with the Township Clerk, as provided for taxicabs and autocabs pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 48:16-1 to 48:16-22, inclusive, together with any amendments or supplements adopted or hereafter adopted relative thereto.
The fees for the issuance of the license herein referred to shall be as follows:
A. 
For each taxicab license, the sum of $20 per year or any fraction thereof.
B. 
For each taxicab driver's license, the sum of $5 per year or portion of the year.
C. 
For transfer of a taxicab owner's license, the sum of $5.
The Mayor and Township Committee of the Township of Franklin may, in their discretion, refuse to issue or renew or may, after notice and bearing, revoke or suspend:
A. 
Any license of either class, if the applicant or licensee, within two years next preceding the filing of an application hereunder, or who, having obtained a license while said license is in effect hereunder, has been or is convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude in this or any other jurisdiction, or of reckless driving, or whose driving privileges have been revoked in this or any other state, 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 has failed or fails to render reasonable, prompt, safe and adequate taxicab service, or who has not complied fully with the requirements of the ordinance for such class of license; or
B. 
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 and health of the occupants or other, or if the policy of insurance required by this chapter or by any statute of the State of New Jersey has become lapsed, or such coverage is not maintained at all times.
Each applicant granted a taxicab driver's license shall be issued a license card in evidence thereof in a form approved by the Mayor and Township Committee of the Township of Franklin, in the County of Gloucester, and signed by the Township Clerk, in his behalf. Such license card shall at all times be carried by the driver while operating a taxicab. In addition, the owner of the taxicab shall furnish a card with the name of the driver which shall at all times be prominently displayed and adequately posted in the interior of any taxicab operated by the licenser so that the face thereof shall be at all times in full view and plainly legible to any passenger seated on the rear seat of such taxicab, and there shall be affixed to such card, in full view of such passengers, a photograph of a size not less than 1 1/4 inches in height and 1 3/4 inches in length of such licensed driver, together with a photograph of the licensed owner of such taxicab of the same size, and each of said photographs shall have indicated thereon the words "Licensed Taxicab Owner" or "Licensed Taxicab Driver," as the case may be.
The operation of any taxicab licensed pursuant to this chapter shall be permitted and shall be lawful only so long as the applicable liability insurance policies, prescribed by this chapter, shall remain in full force to the full and collectible amount stated in said policies.
No taxicab shall hereafter be operated in this township 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 others, shall be charged any passenger so transported.
The Mayor and Township Committee may by resolution make such general rules and regulations and such special rulings and findings as may be necessary for the proper regulation and control of the operation of taxicabs in the Township of Franklin and enforcement of this chapter, in addition thereto and not inconsistent therewith, and may alter, amend, repeal and publish the same from time to time. The Mayor and Township Committee, in implementing this chapter by resolution or regulation where and when required shall, at all times, consider the purpose and intent of this chapter, the character of the various districts of the township, the needs of the public with particular consideration of pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
The violation by the taxicab owner or the taxicab driver of any rules, regulations, special rulings and findings which are hereafter promulgated by the Mayor and Township Committee of the Township of Franklin, and included within a resolution or resolutions adopted by said governing body, shall be sufficient cause for revocation of any license granted to such taxicab owner or taxicab driver pursuant to this chapter, and shall be sufficient cause for the refusal by the Mayor and Council to review such license, in addition to any and all other grounds heretofore specifically mentioned in this chapter.
Owners and drivers of taxicabs licensed out of the jurisdiction of this township may be allowed to enter their taxicabs in this township unit on specific call only, whether transporting a passenger within this township, or from a point within this township to a point outside of the township limits, or discharging a passenger transported from a point outside of the township limits to a point within the township limits. Such taxicabs should not be parked in this township nor shall the drivers thereof cruise on the streets of this township at any time for the purpose of soliciting passengers, nor shall they in the nighttime or other periods of darkness, when in this township, permit any advertising lights on the taxicab to remain lighted; provided, however, that the same or similar substantial reciprocal rights are granted to owners and drivers of taxicabs licensed in this township by the municipalities in which the aforesaid owners or drivers are licensed.
Any person or persons who shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine not exceeding $200 or imprisonment in the county jail for a term not exceeding 90 days, in the discretion of the Judge by whom such person is convicted.