[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Niagara 9-23-1974
by L.L. No. 2-1974. Amendments noted where applicable.]
It shall be unlawful to engage in the business of operating a taxicab
or other public vehicles in the Town of Niagara without first having secured
a license therefor. Applications for such license shall be made in writing
to the Public Vehicle Commission and may be submitted to the Town Clerk of
the Town of Niagara. Such application shall state thereon the name of the
applicant, the intended place of business and the number of taxicabs to be
operated. If the applicant is a partnership or a corporation, the names and
addresses of the partners or the officers, directors and stockholders of such
partnership or corporation, as the case may be, shall be given.
For the purpose of this chapter, the terms used herein are defined as
follows:
No taxicab or other public vehicle can operate in the Town of Niagara,
unless it is licensed by the town. Taxicabs or other public vehicles licensed
by other municipalities may enter the town subject to the rules and regulations
set forth by the Public Vehicle Commission.
Includes a licensee who presently owns more than one taxicab or other
public vehicle or a licensee who presently owns only one taxicab but who is
the owner of more than one taxicab on or after December 1, 1968, and subsequently
surrendered his or her licenses in excess of one.
A licensee who presently owns only one taxicab or other public vehicle
and who is not a fleet owner.
Includes any person, firm, partnership, dispatcher, agent or employee
having authority to act on behalf of the owner, corporation or partnership
owning and operating the taxicab or taxicabs or other public vehicles and
shall include a purchaser under a reserve title contract, conditional sales
agreement or vendor's lien agreement and the lessee of any such vehicle
or vehicles under a lease or similar contract, provided that such purchaser
or lessee shall be entitled to obtain in his or her name a license or licenses
therefor from the Motor Vehicle Commission of the State of New York.
The card issued by the Public Vehicle Commission for each vehicle
licensed, which card shall display the license number assigned to the vehicle,
the number of passengers which may be carried and the rate of fare.
Includes any vehicle used for the transportation of persons or property
for hire within the Town of Niagara.
No license to operate a taxicab or other public vehicle in the Town
of Niagara shall be issued unless or until the Public Vehicle Commission shall
certify that the public need for taxicab service requires the service to be
rendered by the applicant. In deciding this question, the Commission shall
consider the need of the public for taxicab service or otherwise, the number
of taxicabs or public vehicles in operation and the anticipated future demands.
No certification, however, shall be required for the removal of any operator's
licenses. The Public Vehicle Commission shall give such consideration to the
licensing of those businesses established in the Town of Niagara prior to
the enactment of this chapter and which businesses are, in fact, operating
as of the date of the enactment of this chapter.
If any licensee on whose behalf such a certificate has been issued shall
fail to operate all or any of the taxicabs covered by such certificate for
a period of six consecutive days, the certificate may be revoked or modified
by the Commission so as to cover and authorize only the number of taxicabs
actually operated.
No such license shall be issued or be held by any person who is not
a person of good character or who has been convicted of a felony, nor shall
such license be issued to or held by any partnership or corporation if any
partner or any officer, director or stockholder thereof, as the case may be,
would be ineligible for a license under the foregoing conditions and rules
and regulations adopted by the Public Vehicle Commission.
The annual fee payable in advance for such licenses shall be as set
forth from time to time by resolution of the Town Board for each taxicab operated
by the licensee. Whenever the number of taxicabs so operated shall be increased
during the license year, the licensee shall notify the Clerk of such change
and shall pay the additional fee. The Town Clerk shall issue suitable tags
or stickers for the number of taxicabs covered by such license. Such tag or
sticker shall be displayed in a prominent place on each taxicab while it is
in use and may be transferred to any taxicab put into service to replace one
withdrawn from service. The licensee shall notify the Town Clerk of the motor
number and New York State license number of each taxicab operated and of the
corresponding Town of Niagara tag or sticker number.
No taxicab shall be operated within the Town of Niagara unless it bears
a New York State license duly issued, and no such taxicab shall be operated
unless it is equipped with proper brakes, lights, tires, horn, muffler, rear
vision mirror and windshield wipers in good condition and meets such other
requirements as may be set forth by the Public Vehicle Commission. It shall
be the duty of the Chief of Police of the Town of Niagara to inspect every
taxicab as often as may be necessary to see to the enforcement of the provisions
of this chapter and the rules and regulations of the Public Vehicle Commission.
Each taxicab, while operated, shall have on each side, in letters legible
from a distance of 25 feet, the name of the licensee operating it. If more
than one taxicab is operated by a licensee, each taxicab shall be designated
by a different number, and such number shall also appear on each side of such
taxicab.
No person shall drive a taxicab or be hired or be permitted to do so
unless he or she is duly licensed as a chauffeur by the State of New York
and by the Town of Niagara.
The annual fee for a taxicab driver's Town of Niagara license shall
be as set forth from time to time by resolution of the Town Board. No such
license shall be issued to any person who is not competent to operate a motor
vehicle or who is not familiar with the traffic laws and ordinances of the
state and local government. The Chief of Police shall, pursuant to the rules
and regulations of the Public Vehicle Commission, examine each applicant for
a taxicab driver's license to determine the competency of the applicant,
and no such license shall be issued by the Town Clerk of the Town of Niagara
except on a certification of the Chief of Police that the applicant has demonstrated
his or her ability to operate a motor vehicle as required herein and is a
person of good character and has been fingerprinted and determined not to
have been convicted of a felony.
Upon recommendation of the Public Vehicle Commission, the Supervisor
of the Town of Niagara may revoke any taxicab driver's license for repeated
violations of traffic laws or local laws regulating the conduct of such drivers.
No taxicab shall be operated unless it is covered by a bond or public
liability policy as required by statute.
It shall be the duty of the driver of any taxicab to accept as a passenger
any person who seeks to so use the taxicab, provided that such person is not
intoxicated and conducts himself or herself in an orderly manner. No person
shall be admitted to a taxicab occupied by a passenger without the consent
of the passenger. The driver shall take his or her passenger to his or her
destination by the most direct route from the place where the passenger enters
the taxicab.
The Public Vehicle Commission shall promulgate rules and regulations
in addition to those set forth herein relating to further requirements for
a public taxicab owner's license; rules and regulations governing the
owners and drivers of public taxicabs; the equipment to be provided for each
taxicab; rules and regulations regarding conduct of business, employees and
maintenance of records; regulations concerning markings and advertising and
such other general rules as to the Public Vehicle Commission may be necessary.
In addition, rates of fare shall be established on a zone basis; which rates
shall be set forth on the rate card required to be displayed in each taxicab.
Also displayed shall be the driver's license with a photograph of the
driver attached, which photograph is of recent origin.
This chapter shall not apply to public vehicles that are passing through
the highways in the Town of Niagara.
Any person committing an offense against any provision of this chapter
shall be guilty of a violation punishable as follows: by imprisonment for
a term not exceeding 15 days or by a fine not exceeding $250, or by both such
fine and imprisonment. The continuation of an offense against the provisions
of this chapter shall constitute, for each day the offense is continued, a
separate and distinct offense hereunder.
