[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council
of the Borough of Glen Gardner 6-17-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-4.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Vehicles and traffic — See Ch. 154.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
The practice of driving about the streets of the Borough
within 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 designation 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 sections of this
chapter.
Transporting in such taxicab one or more persons for hire
along any of the streets in this Borough, accepting a passenger to
be transported for hire within this Borough or from a point within
the Borough to a point outside 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
the operation of a taxicab within the meaning thereof. The operation
of a taxicab in any of the above-described manners by anyone other
than the owner shall be deemed operation by the owner thereof as well
as by the person actually driving. 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" or "cab" shall
be prima facie evidence of operation.
Any person, corporation or association whose name or title
to any taxicab is registered with the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission
or which appears in such records to be the conditional vendee or lessee
thereof.
Any individual, copartnership, association or corporation,
or joint-stock company, their lessees, trustees or receivers.
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 Borough of Glen Gardner and
which accepts passengers for transportation from points or places
to points or places within or without the said Borough, provided that
nothing herein contained shall include autobuses, public liveries,
jitneys and other such vehicles which are hired by charter or for
a particular contract agreed upon in advance or such public conveyances
as are by law subject to state and/or federal regulation exclusively.
A section of a public street or public place set apart for
the exclusive use of a limited number of taxicabs when such section
is distinctly marked as such by a metal sign attached to a stanchion
on the curb or other conspicuous place or by clearing visible marks
upon the surface of the street or public place.
From and after the effective date of this chapter,
no person shall pick up for hire any persons for any taxicab within
the Borough of Glen Gardner unless both the taxicab and driver thereof
are licensed pursuant to the terms of the chapter and conform to all
the provisions thereof.
A.
All applications shall be made on forms furnished
by the Borough Clerk, and the same shall be completed and verified
under oath and filed with the said Borough Clerk. Each application
shall set forth the full name and address of the owner; the serial
number, type, color, year and make of the taxicab; and the number
of persons it is to carry, and each application shall be accompanied
by the appropriate fee. Any change of address 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 the said application to the Mayor and Council 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.
Every person obtaining a taxicab license must be at
least 21 years of age. If a corporation, the corporation must be organized
and existing under the laws of the State of New Jersey and shall maintain
an office in the Borough of Glen Gardner.
D.
No taxicab licensed under this chapter shall be maintained
or operated on the streets of the Borough of Glen Gardner except by
a driver licensed in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
A.
Each applicant for a taxicab driver's license shall
be at least 21 years of age and a holder of a state driver's license
issued by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission.
B.
Each applicant for a taxicab driver's license shall
submit a certificate from a licensed physician of the State of New
Jersey, at the applicant's expense, certifying that the applicant
has been examined within the preceding 30 days and that he has no
infirmity of body or mind which might render him unfit for the safe
operation of a taxicab.
C.
Each applicant shall present himself to the New Jersey
State Police and, at the applicant's expense, permit his or her fingerprints
to be taken by said police. The fingerprints shall be considered part
of the application. The New Jersey State Police shall forward a copy
of the fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for purposes
of determining the existence of a record of arrest or conviction.
Any information received from these sources shall be furnished to
the Borough of Glen Gardner to be used in evaluating the application.
An affidavit from the New Jersey State Police will be furnished to
the Borough of Glen Gardner to the effect that the applicant is of
good moral character.
D.
If the applicant is a corporation or copartnership,
none of the members, officers, directors or stockholders may have
been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude or none of whom
is less than 21 years of age.
If the Borough Council finds that the applicant
for a taxicab license is fit, willing and able to perform such public
transportation and to conform to the provisions of this chapter, then,
upon payment of the proper fee by the applicant, the Borough Clerk
shall issue a taxicab license stating the name and address of the
applicant, the number and description of vehicles authorized under
such license and the date of issuance thereof.
If the Borough Council finds that the applicant
for a driver's license is fit and conforms to the provisions of this
chapter, then, upon payment of the proper fee by the applicant, the
Borough Clerk shall issue a license upon which shall appear the name,
address, age, signature, company employed by and photograph of the
applicant.
The Borough Council shall, after consideration
of the application for a taxicab driver's license and the reports
and certificates required to be attached thereon, approve or reject
the application for a taxicab driver's license. If the application
for a taxicab driver's license is rejected, the applicant, within
30 days, may request a personal appearance before the Borough Council
to offer evidence why his application should be reconsidered. The
Borough Council may refuse to grant or renew a license in the case
of any applicant:
A.
Whose state automobile driver's license or permit
to operate a taxicab has been suspended or revoked.
B.
Who has been convicted of a crime involving moral
turpitude.
C.
Who shall have been convicted of a violation of laws
pertaining to intoxicants, narcotics or prostitution.
D.
Who for just cause is deemed by the Borough Council
unfit to drive a taxicab.
A.
The annual taxicab license fee shall be $25 for the
first taxicab to be covered by the taxicab license and $10 for each
additional taxicab under said license. The license shall be effective
for the period January 1 to December 1 of each calendar year or part
thereof. Taxicab licenses shall expire on December 31. A taxicab license
for each calendar year thereafter shall be issued upon payment of
the aforesaid fee to the Borough Clerk.
B.
The annual taxicab driver's license fee shall be $10,
and the license shall be effective for the period of January 1 to
December 31 of each calendar year or part thereof. A taxicab driver's
license shall be issued upon payment unless the license for the preceding
year has been revoked.
Every driver licensed under this chapter shall
post his driver's license in a conspicuous position in plain view
of all passengers.
No license shall be sold, assigned, mortgaged
or otherwise transferred.
Every applicant therefor shall have filed with
the Borough Clerk an insurance policy of a company duly licensed to
transact business under the insurance laws of this state, or certificate
thereof, required by N.J.S.A. 48:16-3, covering the taxicab to be
licensed. Upon failure to file the insurance certificate or upon notice
to the Borough Clerk that the insurance coverage of the licensee has
been revoked or suspended, the Borough Clerk shall refuse to issue
the license or shall have the license suspended.
No taxicab license shall be issued until the
applicant therefor shall have delivered to the Chief Financial Officer,
concurrently with the filing of the insurance policy, a power of attorney
executed by said applicant wherein and whereby said applicant shall
appoint the Chief Financial Officer of the Borough of Glen Gardner
his, her or its 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 filed; and any license for a taxicab issued upon
any such application shall continue effective and the operation of
any taxicab thereunder shall be permitted only so long as said power
of attorney shall remain in effect and unrevoked.
Drivers of taxicabs shall not receive or discharge
passengers in the roadway but shall pull up to the right-hand sidewalk
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 on
either the right-hand or the left-hand sidewalk or side of the roadway
in the absence of a sidewalk.
No driver shall permit any other persons to
occupy or ride in any said taxicab unless the person or persons first
employing the taxicab shall consent to the acceptance of such additional
passenger or passengers. No driver shall permit more than a maximum
number of five adults or children to be carried in the taxicab.
Any holder of a license who shall refuse to
accept a call anywhere within the limits of the Borough of Glen Gardner
at any time when such holder is available, or who shall fail or refuse
to give service, shall be deemed to have violated this chapter.
A.
A taxicab license issued under the provisions of this
chapter may be revoked or suspended by the Borough Council if the
holder thereof has:
(1)
Failed to operate the licensed vehicle for more than
30 days.
(2)
Violated any ordinance of the Borough of Glen Gardner
or the laws of the United States or the State of New Jersey, the violations
of which reflect unfavorably on the fitness of the licensee to hold
a license for public transportation.
(3)
Failed to furnish or keep in force the insurance policy
and power of attorney required by this chapter.
(4)
Changed his situation so that he could not at present
qualify for a license.
(5)
Sold or assigned any stock in any corporation or association
without having first reported such change to the Borough Clerk and
police, and the new owners meet the requisite qualifications of any
applicant.
B.
Prior to suspension or revocation, the licensee shall
be given written notice of the proposed action to be taken, and the
reasons therefor, and he shall have an opportunity to be heard.
A.
The Borough Council is given authority to suspend
or revoke any taxicab driver's license, issued under this chapter,
for failure to comply with the provisions of this chapter or qualify
at present for a license.
B.
Suspension or revocation of a taxicab driver's license
may be appealed to the Borough Council within 30 days. Every driver
licensed under this chapter shall comply with all Borough, state and
federal laws. Failure to do so will justify suspension or revocation
of this license.
All licensees hereunder shall agree upon and
accept a uniform rate schedule, which shall be subject to review by
the Borough Council and the Public Utility Commission, if requested,
and a schedule of which shall be filed with the Borough Clerk and
posted within each vehicle in ready view of all passengers.
The making of false statements and/or the disclosure
thereof in any application or record required by this chapter shall
constitute a violation of this chapter, invalidate the application
and cause immediate revocation of any license so issued.
Any person violating any of the provisions of
this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be punishable by a fine
not exceeding $500 or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90
days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. In the event that the
person violating any provision of this chapter is a corporation, the
officers, agents or employees thereof who shall violate or procure,
aid or abet any violation of any of the provisions of this chapter,
or permit the operation of any taxicab contrary to the requirements
thereof, shall be subject to the same penalties as if they, themselves,
were personally operating such taxicab at the time such violations
were committed.
