[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council
of the Borough of Wanaque 9-8-1971 as Ord. No. 13-0-71. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Vehicles and traffic — See Ch. 108.
The following words and phrases and their derivatives,
when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings hereafter ascribed
to them:
The Borough of Wanaque, in the County of Passaic and State
of New Jersey.
The practice of driving about the streets of the borough
with a taxicab so as to solicit passengers or to bring the presence
of the taxicab to the attention of prospective passengers. A taxicab
driving along the streets of this borough for any purpose other than
while transporting a passenger, going to a definite destination by
the most direct route in response to a call for a taxicab by a prospective
passenger or returning by the most direct route to the taxicab's home
terminus after discharging a passenger or going to or from the said
terminus to the driver's home by the most direct route shall be prima
facie evidence of "cruising."
Any person who drives a taxicab within this borough.
Licensed in accordance with the appropriate section of this
chapter.
Transporting in a 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 the borough limits to a point within
the borough limits shall be deemed to be "operation" of a taxicab
within the borough 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 word of similar connotation shall be prima facie evidence
of "operation."
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.
Includes the plural as well as the singular, and artificial
as well as natural "persons."
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 Borough of Wanaque, and which accepts
passengers in this borough for transportation from points or places
to points or places within or without the said borough, provided that
nothing herein contained shall include or apply to "autobus," as defined
in Revised Statutes 48:16-23 of the Laws of the State of New Jersey,
or jitneys or other vehicles operated under municipal consent upon
a route established wholly within the limits of this borough, or the
public conveyances which are by law subject to state or federal regulation
exclusively.
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 the 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 the said license either expires or is
surrendered, suspended or revoked and shall not be transferable.
Every license issued pursuant to the terms of
this chapter shall expire at midnight of the 31st of January of the
next year succeeding in which it was issued, unless sooner surrendered,
suspended or revoked.
The number of licenses under this chapter to
be issued or outstanding in any one year shall be five driver's licenses
and five owner's licenses, or shall be fixed by resolution of the
Mayor and Council of the Borough of Wanaque; and the Mayor and Council
shall also have the right, pursuant hereto, to adopt resolutions establishing
zones or districts within the borough limits, as it may from time
to time deem desirable or necessary, for the purpose of prescribing
or fixing maximum or minimum charges which may be made within the
area or within said districts for such taxicab service.
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 liquor 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 an idictable
offense or of reckless driving within two years next preceding the
filing of such application, that he has knowledge of State Motor Vehicle
Laws and traffic regulations and that he has knowledge of the ordinances
and geography of the Borough of Wanaque. 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 Borough of Wanaque as references. Such applicant for a driver's
license under this chapter shall, before the license is issued, be
fingerprinted.
B.
All applications for drivers' licenses shall be filed
with the Borough Clerk in writing in duplicate, who shall submit said
applications to the Mayor and Council at the next succeeding meeting
for action, and any and all applications may be granted or refused
by the vote of the majority of the members of said body present at
such 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, 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 Borough of Wanaque as references.
Any and every change of address of the owner shall be reported in
writing to the Borough Clerk within three days after such change.
B.
All applications shall be filed with the Borough Clerk,
who shall submit said applications to the Borough Council at the next
succeeding meeting for action, and any and all applications may be
granted or refused by the majority vote of the members of said body
present at such meeting.
A.
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 Borough Clerk, as provided for taxicabs and
autocabs pursuant to the provisions of the Revised Statutes of New
Jersey, Sections 48:16-1 to 48:16-22 inclusive, together with any
amendments or supplements adopted or hereafter adopted relative thereto,
except, however, that such insurance policy shall be written in the
sum of not less than $10,000 against loss by reason of the liability
imposed by law upon the taxicab owner or driver for damages on account
of bodily injury or death suffered by any one person as the result
of an accident occurring by reason of the ownership, maintenance or
use of the taxicab upon any public street; and in the sum of $65,000
against loss by reason of liability imposed by law upon the taxicab
owner or driver for damage on account of bodily injury or death suffered
by more than one person as the result of an accident occurring by
reason of the ownership, maintenance or use of the taxicab. Said insurance
policy shall specifically provide that the passengers entering such
taxicab for transportation shall be protected whether such passenger
is accepted for transportation from a fixed taxi stand or other public
place, or from any other point or place, whether fixed or otherwise.
B.
If such owner operates more than one taxicab, he may
file with the Clerk of the Borough of Wanaque, in lieu of the policy
aforesaid, a bond or insurance policy of a company duly licensed to
transact business under the Insurance Law of this state in the sum
of $50,000, which shall be a blanket insurance covering all cabs operated
by such owner, which said insurance policy shall specifically provide
that all passengers entering such taxicab for transportation shall
be protected, whether such passenger is accepted for transportation
from a fixed taxi stand or other public place, or from any other point
or place, whether fixed or otherwise, and said insurance policy shall
provide for the payment of any final judgment recovered by any person
on account of the ownership, maintenance or use of such taxicab or
any default in respect thereto, and shall be for the benefit of each
person suffering loss, damage or injury as aforesaid.
The fees for the issuance of the license herein
referred to shall be as, follows:
The Mayor and Council of the Borough of Wanaque
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,
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 being a disorderly person
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 who 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 all the
requirements of this chapter for such class of license.
B.
Any taxicab driver's license if the applicant 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 condition is dangerous
to the safety and health of the occupants or others, or if the policy
of insurance required by this chapter or by any statute of New Jersey
has once lapsed, or such coverage is not maintained at all times.
D.
Any license of either class if the driver shall accept
any passenger for transportation from any point or place other than
a fixed taxi stand designated by the Mayor and Council for such taxicab
unless such passenger has requested transportation at the regularly
operated taxicab office or terminus of the particular taxicab involved
or, without the solicitation of the driver, owner or anyone on their
behalf, has requested transportation requiring the driver to immediately
pick up the passenger from a point or place where the passenger is
situated.
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 Council of the Borough of Wanaque and signed by the
Borough Clerk in its behalf. Said 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 licensee 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
such photographs shall have indicated thereon the words "Licensed
Taxicab Owner" or "Licensed Taxicab Driver," as the case may be.
The operation of any taxicab 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
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 charged any passenger so transported.
Every taxicab so licensed shall have conspicuously
located on the exterior thereof the words "Taxi," "Cab" or "Taxicab,"
which shall be illuminated during darkness.
The rate of fares to be charged within the Borough
of Wanaque shall be fixed by resolution of the Mayor and Council of
the Borough of Wanaque, and the Mayor and Council may, by resolution,
establish zones for the purpose of fixing rates.
The owner of such taxicab so licensed shall
keep or require to be kept a written record of each trip made by the
said taxicab, showing the number of daily trips. Such records shall
not be destroyed for one year from the date of the trip, and shall
be kept within the said borough in readily accessible form, and shall
be accessible at all reasonable hours for inspection by the Mayor
and Council of the Borough of Wanaque or its accredited representative,
or by local, state, federal or military law enforcement agencies.
No person shall park or idle any taxicab on
any of the streets of the Borough of Wanaque at any time except at
such place or places as the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Wanaque
may by resolution from time to time designate as municipal taxi stands.
No person shall cruise on the streets of this
borough with any taxicab at any time for the purpose of soliciting
passengers.
The Borough Clerk shall at the time a license
is granted, and upon the receipt of the license fee, pay the same
to the Treasurer of the Borough of Wanaque.
Every owner-licensee shall cause each licensed
taxicab to be operated at least eight hours a day, and the Mayor and
Council may, by resolution, designate specific hours of the day for
operation and may fix specific hours for each licensed owner.
The Mayor and Council may by resolution make
such general rules and regulations and such special railings and findings
as may be necessary for the proper regulation and control of the operation
of taxicabs in the Borough of Wanaque 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
Borough Council, in implementing this chapter by resolution or regulation
where and when required, shall at all times consider the purposes
and intent of this chapter, the character of the various districts
of the borough and the needs of the public with particular consideration
to 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 Council of the Borough
of Wanaque, 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 renew such license, in addition to any and
all other grounds heretofore specifically mentioned in this chapter.
No taxicab or other vehicle for hire shall be
parked or stopped, nor shall the driver thereof solicit or otherwise
seek to engage a passenger, whether said driver be in or out of said
taxicab or other vehicle, within 50 feet of a regularly operated taxicab
office or terminus, except the owner or lessee of said taxicab office
or terminus and his licensed drivers.
Owners and drivers of taxicabs licensed out
of the jurisdiction of this borough may be allowed to bring their
taxicabs into this borough, but on specific call only, whether transporting
a passenger 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 him shall be given by the owner of 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 lighted; 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.
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 $500 or imprisonment in the county
jail for a term not exceeding 90 days, in the discretion of the Municipal
Court by whom such person is convicted.
