All holders of licenses engaged in the taxicab business in the
Township of Toms River, operating under the provisions of this chapter,
shall render an overall service to the public desiring to use taxicabs.
They shall answer all calls received by them for services inside the
corporate limits of the municipality as soon as they can do so, and
if said services cannot be rendered within a reasonable time, they
shall then notify the prospective passenger how long it will be before
said call can be answered and give the reason therefor. Any holder
who shall unreasonably refuse to accept a call anywhere in the municipality
at any time when such holder has an available cab or cabs or who shall
unreasonably fail or unreasonably refuse to give overall service shall
be deemed a violator of this chapter.
A.
Prior to the operation as a taxicab, every vehicle operating pursuant
hereto shall be inspected by the Police Department or other designated
Township personnel of the municipality to ensure that the vehicle
is safe, sanitary and properly maintained. Thereafter every vehicle
shall be reinspected by the Police Department or other designated
Township personnel every 24 months to ensure that said vehicle is
continued in a safe, sanitary and properly maintained condition. Upon
completion of the inspection set forth, the Police Department shall
immediately notify the Township Clerk in writing of the results of
the inspection. The Clerk and Police Department shall maintain records
on every vehicle so inspected.
B.
Every driver shall maintain a daily manifest upon which are recorded
all trips made each day, showing time and place of origin and destination
of each trip and amount of fare, and all such completed manifests
shall be returned to the owner by the driver at the conclusion of
his or her tour of duty. The forms for each manifest shall be furnished
to the driver by the owner and shall be of a character approved by
the municipality. Every owner shall retain and preserve all drivers'
manifests in a safe place for at least the calendar year next succeeding
the year in which the manifests are made, and said manifests shall
be available to the Police Department and other personnel of the municipality
at all times.
No driver shall solicit patronage in a loud tone of voice or
in any manner annoy any person or obstruct the movement of any person
or follow any person for the purpose of soliciting patronage.
Drivers of taxicabs shall not receive or discharge passengers
in the roadway but shall pull up to the right-hand side as nearly
as possible or, in the absence of a sidewalk, to the extreme right-hand
side of the road and there receive or discharge passengers, except
upon one-way streets where passengers may be discharged at either
the right- or left-hand sidewalk or side of the roadway in the absence
of a sidewalk.
No driver shall cruise in search of passengers except in such
areas and at such times as may be designated by the Chief of Police.
Such areas and times shall only be designated when the Chief of Police
finds that taxicab cruising would not congest traffic or be dangerous
to pedestrians and other vehicles.
No driver shall permit any other person to occupy or ride said
taxicab unless the person or persons first employing a taxicab shall
consent to the acceptance of an additional passenger or passengers.
No driver shall refuse or neglect to carry any person or persons,
upon their request, unless previously engaged or unable or forbidden
by the provisions of this chapter to do so.
It shall be a violation of this chapter for any driver of a
taxicab to solicit business for any hotels, motels, rooming houses,
bars, taverns, restaurants, theaters and the like, or to attempt to
divert patronage from one such place to another.
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 this chapter, nor
shall any driver of such taxicab seek employment by repeatedly and
persistently driving his or her taxicab to and fro 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 or other
place of gathering.
No driver of any taxicab shall induce any prospective passenger
to employ him or her, knowingly misinforming or misleading any such
passenger, either as to time or place of arrival or departure of any
train, motor vehicle, or airplane or as to the location of any hotel,
public place or private residence or as to the distance between any
two points, nor shall such driver deceive any prospective passenger
or make any false representations to, or convey, any passenger to
any other place or over any other route than that to which such passenger
may have instructed the driver to go.
Every holder shall be responsible for the operation of the vehicle
for which the license has been granted regardless of the legal relationship
between such holder and the driver of such vehicle.
The driver, while engaged in the operation of a taxicab, shall
behave himself or herself in a professional manner, and he or she
shall not use any indecent, profane or insulting language while engaged
in such operation.
Every driver of a taxicab, immediately after the termination
of any hiring or employment, must carefully search such taxicab for
any property lost or left therein, and any such property, unless sooner
claimed or delivered to the owners, shall, as soon as possible, be
turned over to the Police Department. In the event that the driver
returns the lost property directly to the owner, the driver shall
be entitled to a fee equal to the amount of the original fare, which
shall be paid by the owner immediately upon the return of lost property.
A.
Licenses or permits issued under the provisions of this chapter may
be suspended or revoked by the Township Council if the holder has:
(1)
Violated any of the provisions of this chapter.
(2)
Discontinued operation for more than 30 days.
(3)
Violated any ordinances of the Township of Toms River, or the laws
of the United States or the State of New Jersey, the violation of
which reflects unfavorably on the fitness of the holder or permittee
to offer public transportation.
B.
Prior to suspension or revocation, the holder or permittee shall
be given written notice of the proposed action to be taken, the charges
against him or her, and, thereupon, the holder shall be given a hearing.
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate a provision
of this chapter, or fail to comply therewith, shall severally, for
each and every such violation and noncompliance, forfeit and pay a
penalty not to exceed the sum of $500 or be imprisoned in the Ocean
County Jail for a period of not more than 30 days, or both, in the
discretion of the Judge before whom such conviction shall be had.
The imposition of a penalty for violation of this chapter shall not
excuse the violation, or permit it to continue; such violation shall
be remedied within a reasonable time, and each day that such violation
is permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense.
The conviction of a licensee or permittee for a violation hereunder
shall not prevent the Township from taking action to suspend or revoke
the license or permit of the person so convicted, as herein provided.
No driver shall permit more persons to be carried in a taxicab
or a vehicle for hire as passengers than the seating capacity, as
stated in the license for said vehicle.
A card indicating the rates to be charged shall be posted in
all taxicabs or vehicles licensed hereunder, in full view of the passengers
and in letters and numbers not less than one inch high, and no charge
shall be made in a greater amount than as shown on said card.
The Police Department and the Code Enforcement Officer are hereby
designated as the personnel of the municipality charged with the enforcement
of this chapter.
All notices to be provided hereunder shall be deemed to be furnished
upon mailing by regular mail, prepaid, to the last address furnished
to the municipality.
