[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of
the City of Garfield 4-4-1978 by Ord. No. 1648 (Ch.
228 of the 1979 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Vehicles and traffic — See Ch. 325.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any person 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 this chapter, unless otherwise
stated.
Transporting in such taxicab one or more persons for hire
along any of the streets in this City. Accepting a passenger to be
transported for hire within this City or from a point within this
City to a point outside the City limits or discharging a passenger
transported for hire from a point within the City 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 taxicab. The transportation
of any person other than the owner or driver in any motor vehicle
bearing a sign therein or thereon using the word "taxi," "taxicab,"
"cab" or "hack" shall be prima facie evidence of operation.
A section of a public street or public places set apart for
the exclusive use of a limited number of taxicabs, distinctly marked
as such.
[Added 10-28-2014 by Ord. No. 2695]
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 City 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 City.
An official document of the City of Garfield which permits
the holder to operate a taxicab for hire within the City limits, subject
to any restrictions found in the City Code and state and federal laws.
[Added 10-28-2014 by Ord. No. 2695]
An individual, partnership, limited-liability company or
corporation to whom a taxicab license has been issued by the City
of Garfield.
[Added 10-28-2014 by Ord. No. 2695]
The official document of the City of Garfield, conferred
by the City Council, which grants the individual nontransferable permission
to drive a taxicab upon the streets of Garfield. This term shall not
be construed to mean a driver's license issued by the State of
New Jersey.
[Added 10-28-2014 by Ord. No. 2695]
The individual to whom a taxicab operator's license
has been issued by the City of Garfield.
[Added 10-28-2014 by Ord. No. 2695]
No person shall operate any taxicab within the
City unless both the taxicab and the driver thereof are licensed and
conform to the provisions of this chapter.
There are hereby established two classes of
taxicab licenses, to be known as "taxicab driver's license" and "taxicab
owner's license," respectively.
A.
A taxicab driver's license shall entitle the person
named therein to operate within the City any taxicab duly licensed
hereunder until the license either expires or is surrendered, suspended
or revoked, and shall not be transferable.
B.
A taxicab owner's license shall entitle the taxicab
therein described to be operated in the City by a driver duly licensed
hereunder until the license either expires or is surrendered, suspended
or revoked, and shall not be transferable.
Any license issued pursuant to the terms of
this chapter shall expire at 12:00 midnight, December 31 of the year
in which it was issued, unless sooner revoked or suspended.
[Amended 10-28-2014 by Ord. No. 2695]
The total number of taxicab owner's licenses
that may be issued and outstanding at any one time is hereby fixed
at three, and the total number of taxicabs authorized by any one company
shall be not more than eight.
A.
All applications for the issuance or renewal of any
license of either class shall be made to the City Council on forms
adopted by the Council and obtained from the City Clerk and designed
to elicit information respecting the identification, responsibility
and law-abiding habits of the applicant.
B.
The City Clerk is hereby authorized to issue a temporary taxicab driver's license pending the approval by the City Council of any application for a taxicab driver's license submitted in accordance with this chapter, provided that the Chief of Police of the City shall certify to the City Clerk that, after due investigation, the applicant is not ineligible under § 310-8.
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 and affirmation and thereafter
file the completed application with the City Clerk, together with
the full amount of the proper fee hereinafter fixed therefor.
A.
Application accessories for driver's license.
(1)
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 City
and be retained with the application form unless the application is
issued, in which event one of the photographs shall be permanently
affixed to the license card in a space provided therein.
(2)
Each applicant for a taxicab driver's license shall
be fingerprinted by the Police Department of the City, which fingerprints
shall become the property of the City and be retained with the application
form.
B.
Application accessories for owner's license.
(1)
Each applicant for a taxicab owner's license shall
have a regularly registered business office and shall therein have
a telephone operating.
(2)
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 City Clerk concurrently with the filing of the policy
or bond aforesaid a power of attorney wherein and whereby the owner
shall appoint the City 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.
(3)
The City Clerk, upon the 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 New Jersey
statutes aforesaid, which certificates 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.
[Amended 10-28-2014 by Ord. No. 2695]
The annual fee for each taxicab driver's license hereafter
issued or any renewal thereof shall be $50 for each year or portion
thereof. The fee for a taxicab owner's license shall be $100
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 City Council may, in its discretion, refuse
to 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 has been dishonorably discharged from the Armed
Forces of the United States of America, or violates any provision
of this chapter or has any judgment unsatisfied of record against
him arising out of an automobile accident, or is an alien citizen
of any nation between whom and the United States of America a state
of war exists, or has made false answers in his application for such
license or any renewal thereof, or has failed to render reasonably
prompt, safe and adequate taxicab service, or 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.
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 has not been furnished or kept in force,
or if the owners fail to comply with any terms or conditions imposed
by the City Council or any law in this state.
A.
Each applicant granted a taxicab driver's license
shall be issued a license card in evidence thereof in a form approved
by City Council and signed by the City 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 the
license card shall at all times remain the property of the City and,
on direction of the City Council, shall at once be surrendered to
the City Clerk.
B.
No taxicab driver's license card other than that of
the licensee actually operating the taxicab at the time shall be displayed
therein.
The City Clerk shall, at the time the Council
acts on any application, pay the fees received therefor over to the
City Treasurer.
No person so licensed as aforesaid shall refuse
to carry local fares or passengers.
Owners and drivers of taxicabs licensed out
of the jurisdiction of the City may be allowed to enter their taxicabs
in the City but on specific call only, whether transporting a passenger
within this City or from a point within this City to a point outside
the City limits or discharging a passenger within the City limits,
and the name of the passenger so calling shall be given by the owner
or driver when requested by the City police or other lawful persons.
Such taxicabs shall not be parked in this City nor shall the drivers
thereof cruise on the streets of this City at any time for the purpose
of soliciting passengers nor shall they, in the nighttime or other
periods of darkness, when in this City, permit any advertising lights
on the taxicab to remain unlighted; provided, however, that the same
or similar substantial reciprocal rights are granted to the owners
and drivers of taxicabs licensed in the City by the municipalities
in which the aforesaid owners or drivers are licensed.
[Amended 10-28-2014 by Ord. No. 2695]
All vehicles herein required to be licensed which are 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 the doors shall be for the exclusive use of the passengers.
The automobiles shall be at all times clean and in good repair and
shall not be more than six years old.
[Amended 4-18-1978 by Ord. No. 1647; 9-18-1984 by Ord. No.
1837; 10-28-2014 by Ord. No. 2695]
A.
Any dispute as to the fare shall be determined by the officer in
charge of the police station at the time of the dispute.
B.
Every driver of a taxicab shall, when requested, give a passenger
a receipt for the fare paid.
C.
No person other than the licensed driver of the taxicab shall ride
or sit in the compartment of the taxicab reserved for the driver,
unless the passengers, for reasons of disability, cannot occupy the
rear seat.
D.
Every vehicle licensed hereunder shall have fastened in a conspicuous
place therein a printed card showing the rates which shall be charged
for transportation.
E.
Every vehicle licensed hereunder shall have posted on both front
doors or both rear doors of the vehicle the rates for transportation
in figures of not less than 2 1/2 inches in height and letters
of not less than one inch in height.
F.
The prices that may be charged by the owners or drivers of automobiles,
taxicabs or other motor vehicles for the transportation of passengers
for hire shall not exceed the following rates:
(1)
Where a flat-rate cab is used, the fare shall be, for every trip
a driver makes from or to any point in the City, the sum of $6 for
one or two passengers; provided, however, that if he carries more
than two passengers at the same time to the same point or within a
block of such point, he shall receive the sum of $0.50 for each additional
passenger, the object being that the driver in no instance shall receive
less than $6.
No taxicab while waiting for employment by passengers
shall stand on any public street or space other than at or upon a
taxicab stand designated or established in accordance with the ordinance
and designated as the stand for such taxicab by the City Council,
nor shall any driver of such taxicab seek employment by repeatedly
and persistently driving his taxicab to and from in a short space
before or by otherwise interfering with the proper and orderly access
to or egress from any theater, hall, hotel, public resort, railway
station or other place of public gathering, and no driver shall solicit
passengers for a taxicab except when standing at his vehicle or sitting
upon the driver's seat thereof.
[Amended 5-20-1980 by Ord. No. 1723; 4-25-2006 by Ord. No.
2457]
Any person, firm, corporation or association
who shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter shall, in
addition to the suspension or revocation of the license heretofore
mentioned, be punished by one or more of the following: a fine not
exceeding $2,000; imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days; and/or
a period of community service not exceeding 90 days, and every day
of such violation shall be deemed and taken to be a separate and distinct
offense.
[Added 10-28-2014 by Ord. No. 2695]
Taxicabs may display advertising on or above the rear bumper
and/or rooftop of the taxicab, provided such advertising is properly
framed and does not obstruct rear vision. Such advertising shall be
no larger the six square feet.
