[Ord. No. 90, §1]
The term "taxicab" shall mean and include any
motor vehicle engaged in the business of carrying persons for hire
on the streets of the city, whether the same is operated from a street-stand
or from a garage, where no regular or specific route is traveled but
passengers are taken to and from such places as they may designate;
whether the charge therefor is made on the basis of distance traveled
as indicated by a taximeter or speedometer attached thereto, or by
any other method of determining distance, such as by zoning system
or otherwise, or the time consumed in traveling, or on any other basis
whatever.
This chapter shall not apply to any motor vehicle used as a
sight-seeing car; a "sight-seeing car" being defined
as a motor vehicle having a seating capacity in excess of ten persons
and which is used for the purpose of conveying passengers on sight-seeing
tours as the term is generally understood, and where the basis for
charge is the time or circuit route traveled by such cars in regular
trips. Nor shall it apply to "service cars" or "buses" as those terms are generally understood and are
defined.
[Ord. No. 90, §2]
(a)
No person shall engage in the business of operating a taxicab upon
the streets of the city without first obtaining a license to do so.
Such license shall be issued by the city collector after the application
therefor has been approved and the requisite fee paid, as hereinafter
prescribed, and after all other provisions of this chapter pertaining
to the obtaining or issuing of the license have been complied with.
(b)
Application for a license to engage in the business of operating
a taxicab shall be filed with the city clerk and referred to the board
of aldermen for consideration and determination. The application shall
be in writing, certified by the applicant, or, if the applicant is
a corporation, firm or partnership, by its duly authorized officer
or agent, and shall state the following facts:
(1)
The full name and address of the applicant; if a partnership, firm
or corporation, the names and addresses of all the officers and directors
thereof, or partners.
(2)
The name and address of the owner of the vehicles proposed to be
operated.
(3)
A statement of the previous experience the applicant has had, or
if the applicant is a partnership, the partners thereof have had;
or, if the applicant is a corporation, the officers and directors
have had, in the taxicab business.
(4)
The number of taxicabs the applicant desires to operate within the
city.
(5)
The seating capacity of each vehicle proposed to be used as a taxicab
according to the manufacturers' rating, which shall not be less
than three in the tonneau thereof.
(6)
The type of motor car to be used, horsepower, name of make, the length
of time such vehicle has been in use, the insurance proposed to be
carried, the amount of same and the name of the company issuing the
policy.
(7)
The color scheme of the taxicab proposed to be used.
(c)
The application shall be accompanied by a certificate of inspection
from the chief of police, who shall inspect all taxicabs. Such certificate,
however, shall not be necessary in case the vehicles proposed to be
operated as taxicabs are new and have not been in use theretofore.
[Ord. No. 90, §3]
The board of aldermen shall have power to approve any application
and order a license issued or refuse to do so, as it may deem proper.
In determining whether such application shall be approved and the
license issued, or otherwise, the board shall take into consideration
whether the demands of the public require such proposed or additional
taxicab service within the city, the financial responsibility of the
applicant, the number, kind and type of equipment and the color scheme
proposed to be used, the increased traffic congestion and the demand
for increased parking space upon the streets of the city which may
result, and whether the safe use of the streets by the public, both
vehicular and pedestrian, will be preserved by the granting of such
license, and such other relevant facts as the board may deem advisable
or necessary.
[Ord. No. 90, §4]
If the board of aldermen shall approve the application and authorize
the issuance of the license applied for, the city collector shall,
after payment by the applicant of the fee prescribed therefor, issue
such license and deliver the same to the applicant. If the board shall
refuse to approve the application, the city collector shall make a
record to that effect thereupon and notify the applicant that his
application has been disapproved.
[Ord. No. 90, §5; Ord. No. 616, §1]
Before such license shall be issued the applicant shall pay
to the city collector twelve dollars as an annual license tax for
each taxicab to be operated for the conveyance of passengers upon,
along or over the streets of this city. The license shall expire on
January 1 after the date of its issuance; provided, that when any
license is issued after July 1 of any year the fee for the remaining
portion of the year shall be seven dollars and fifty cents. All such
licenses may thereafter be renewed annually upon January 1 of each
year upon payment of the required fee. The license so issued shall
be posted in the vehicle for which issued at all times and is not
transferable or assignable to any other vehicle.
These license taxes shall be adjusted on an annual basis, effective
January 1 of the year in question, to reflect increases, if any, in
the November offering next preceding this January 1 of the Cost of
Living Index for all urban consumers for the St. Louis area published
by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department
of Labor, as compared to the previous November offering, using the
period 1967 = 100 as the base period. All such computation of increases
made as provided herein shall be rounded to the nearest fifty-cent
figure, and shall not be further adjusted during the course of the
year in question until the following January 1 of the next year in
question, when such further adjustments, if warranted as provided
herein, shall be made.
[Ord. No. 90, §10]
The license tax required in this chapter shall be a tax on the
business of conveying passengers over and upon the streets in the
city by means of taxicabs, and nothing herein shall be so construed
as to exempt the owner from paying the city the tax imposed by the
city in licensing motor vehicles or automobiles to be operated on
its streets, or any registry tax which the city may levy on motor
vehicles or automobiles, or the tax which the city levies on motor
vehicles or automobiles as personal property, and nothing herein shall
be so considered as to exempt the owner or driver of a vehicle from
the qualifications which the state may require of persons who operate
motor vehicles or automobiles.
[Ord. No. 90, §13]
The mayor and board of aldermen shall have authority at any
time to revoke any and all licenses granted under this chapter, after
first having granted the owner or operator of the taxicab a hearing
on the question of whether or not the license should be revoked. Upon
revocation of any license, no portion of the license fee shall be
refunded.
[Ord. No. 90, §§6, 7]
Every applicant for a license to operate a taxicab, and the
owner of the taxicab, in addition to the requirements mentioned in
this chapter, shall maintain and carry for each taxicab licensed to
be operated, liability insurance in the sum of not less than one hundred
thousand dollars for any one person and the sum of two hundred thousand
dollars for any two or more persons who may be injured in any one
accident, and not less than five thousand dollars for any property
damage, at any time by reason of the carelessness of the driver or
operator of such taxicab. Such insurance shall be carried in a firm
or corporation which has been duly licensed or permitted to carry
on such insurance business in the state and shall be kept and maintained
continually in force and effect so long as such applicant and owner
of such taxicab shall be licensed to operate the same on the streets
of this city.
It shall be unlawful for any person to operate or drive, or
cause to be operated or driven, any taxicab along or upon any public
street in the city unless the policy of insurance required by this
section for such taxicab shall have been filed with the city clerk
and is in full force and effect. If any policy of insurance required
by this section covering any or all of the taxicabs authorized to
be operated by virtue of a license issued therefor, is cancelled or
permitted to lapse, and the holder of such license fails to replace
the same immediately with another policy of insurance fully complying
with the provisions of this section, such license or licenses issued
thereunder shall be immediately suspended.
[Ord. No. 90, §7]
Every licensee shall on or before the fifth day of each month,
file with the chief of police of this city a report showing the number
of accidents in which any taxicab owned or operated by him was involved
during the preceding month, the nature of the accident, the damage,
if any, to persons or property resulting therefrom, and the names
and addresses of all persons claiming damage arising from any taxicab
accident, and whether such claim is pending, in suit, or paid. The
failure to file such report within the time herein provided, or the
filing or causing or intentionally permitting the filing of a false
report, shall constitute a violation of this chapter and shall also
be ground for forfeiting the license of the owner or operator of the
taxicab involved.
[Ord. No. 90, §8]
No person shall drive a taxicab licensed under the provisions
of this chapter who is not a duly licensed chauffeur as required by
the laws of the state, and who has not submitted and given his finger
prints to the police department of the city. Each person before so
operating a taxicab, shall be fingerprinted and shall submit to the
chief of police of this city for inspection his chauffeur's license,
and shall have the chauffeur's license at all times available
for the inspection and examination by the chief of police or any police
officer upon demand.
[Ord. No. 90, §9]
The department of police of the city shall maintain constant
vigilance over all taxicabs and shall inspect all such vehicles to
ascertain that they are in a thoroughly safe condition for the transportation
of passengers, kept clean, fit and of good appearance. Such inspection
shall be made at least annually before the issuance or renewal of
any license therefor, and thereafter from time to time, or at the
complaint of any person, or as often as may be necessary to ascertain
that such taxicabs are kept in a condition of continued fitness for
public use; and it may forbid the use of any vehicle by the owner
thereof found to be unfit or unsuited for public patronage. It shall
also examine the taximeter, speedometer or any other measuring device
attached to any taxicab to determine that the same is at all times
accurate.
[Ord. No. 90, §11]
The provisions of this chapter shall apply to any licensee who
desires to increase the number of taxicabs to be operated, and no
person who has been licensed to operate taxicabs may discontinue any
of them without first filing with the city clerk a certified statement
of the number of vehicles he desires to discontinue operating and
the reasons therefor. The withdrawal of any vehicle from operation
for the purpose of conditioning, overhauling or repairing the same
shall not be considered discontinued operation under this section.
Upon complete abandonment of taxicab service for a period of thirty
days by any owner or operator of taxicabs, the board of aldermen may
recall or revoke the license issued to such owner or operator.
[Ord. No. 90, §12]
The board of aldermen shall authorize the chief of police to
designate such stands or stopping places for taxicabs from which stands
business may be solicited and from which stands a sign may be displayed
stating that the taxicabs are for hire and the rate of fare. Such
driver of such taxicab may also solicit employment by driving through
any public street; provided, that such does not interfere with the
free flow of traffic. Six passengers shall constitute the maximum
allowable load to be carried in a taxicab at any one time.
[Ord. No. 2094 §2, 8-18-2009]
The term "horse-drawn carriage" shall mean
a passenger vehicle on wheels pulled by one (1) or more horses.
[Ord. No. 2094 §2, 8-18-2009]
A horse-drawn carriage may be operated on city rights-of-way
and in city parks subject to the following conditions:
(a)
An annual business license must be obtained by the individual or
entity engaging in such activity.
(b)
A certificate of insurance must be provided, naming the city as an
additional insured party.
(c)
The city must approve each instance of the proposed activity. The
carriage ride operator must submit proposed dates, times and locations
to the police chief for consideration five (5) business days in advance
of the proposed date(s).
(d)
The carriage ride operators shall ensure that horse diapers are utilized
at all times.
(e)
Carriage ride operators may operate horse-drawn carriages in city
parks if such are operated on hard surfaced drive lanes or hard surfaced
parking areas.
