[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council
of the Borough of Ridgefield 11-6-1974 by Ord. No. 992 as Ch. 53 of the 1967
Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
No autobus, commonly called "jitney," shall
be operated in the public streets or places of the Borough of Ridgefield
unless the provisions of this chapter are complied with.
No autobus or buses, commonly called "jitneys,"
shall be operated in any of the public streets or places of the Borough
of Ridgefield unless the owner or his or its lessee (who shall for
the purposes of this chapter be considered the owner) operating such
autobus or buses shall have procured a license in the manner herein
provided and shall have paid the fee therefor.
Any person, firm or corporation desiring to
operate an autobus or autobuses, commonly called "jitneys," in, over
and through the public streets or places of the Borough of Ridgefield
shall make an application in writing to the Mayor and Council of the
Borough of Ridgefield, which application shall state the name of the
owner or person, firm or corporation intending to operate such autobus
or buses; the residence and business address of such applicant; the
number of buses which said applicant intends to operate within the
Borough of Ridgefield; the seating capacity of each bus; the streets,
avenues and public places upon which such buses will be operated;
and an agreement to comply with the requirements contained in this
chapter or any supplement or amendment thereof. Said application shall
be accompanied by a license fee, which fee shall be as follows: for
each bus or jitney, the sum of twenty-five dollars ($25.) per year.
No license hereunder shall become effective
or remain in force, and no operation of any autobus under any such
license shall be permitted, until the owner of such autobus shall
have filed with the Borough Clerk an original insurance policy written
by a company duly authorized and licensed to transact business under
the insurance laws of the State of New Jersey in the sum of five thousand
dollars ($5,000.) insuring the owner against loss from liability imposed
by law upon the autobus owner for damages on account of bodily injury
or death or property damage suffered by any person or persons as a
result of the ownership, operation or use of such bus within the Borough
of Ridgefield and providing that the liability under such policy shall
be exclusively for damages sustained within the limits of the borough
and further providing for the payment of any final judgment to be
recovered by any person, firm or corporation against the owner or
operator of such autobus growing out of the ownership, operation or
use of such autobus within the limits of the borough and further providing
that such insurance and the conditions of such policy shall be for
the benefit of every person, firm or corporation suffering loss, damage
or injury as aforesaid.
No license shall be issued until there shall
have been filed with the Borough Clerk by the owner of such autobus
a power of attorney wherein and whereby such owner shall constitute
and appoint the Borough Clerk of the Borough of Ridgefield, for the
time being, or his successors in office, as a true and lawful attorney
of such owner for the purpose of receiving service of any process
out of any court of competent jurisdiction against such owner with
the same force and effect as though such service had been made upon
such owner personally, if an individual, or upon an officer, director
or registered agent thereof, if a corporation. Such power of attorney
shall remain in force and effect so long as such owner shall operate,
as owner, any autobus within the Borough of Ridgefield. The power
of attorney herein provided for need not be filed as a condition precedent
to the renewal of a license previously issued to the same owner.
[Amended 8-26-1991 by Ord. No. 1451]
Every person, firm or corporation operating
any autobus or autobuses within the Borough of Ridgefield shall operate
the same over a route or routes set forth by his or its application
and over no other route or routes, except pursuant to permission of
the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Ridgefield, evidenced by a
resolution duly adopted by said Mayor and Council of the Borough of
Ridgefield; provided, however, that in case any portion of any such
route shall be temporarily obstructed or closed to traffic, then in
such case such autobus or buses may be operated upon such other street
or streets or public places as to make a detour to the nearest open
portion of such route, as directed by the Director of Public Works.
Every person, firm or corporation operating
an autobus or autobuses within the Borough of Ridgefield shall, with
the application herein provided for, file with the Borough Clerk a
schedule showing the regular stopping places for taking on and letting
off passengers within the borough; a schedule showing the time when
such bus or buses will arrive at such stopping points; a statement
of the entire route, both within and out of the borough, to be traveled
by such autobus or buses; and a schedule showing the time when such
bus or buses will leave their respective terminal of each route. The
aforesaid schedule will be subject to change due to unforeseen causes
and reasonable delays, but in no case shall any autobus leave any
fixed stopping place before the time shown by such schedule. A copy
of the time schedule shall be posted in a conspicuous place in each
autobus. The time schedule may be changed upon ten (10) days' notice,
in writing, which notice shall be filed with the Borough Clerk at
least ten (10) days before such proposed change will take effect and
shall also within the same time be published in a newspaper circulating
within the Borough of Ridgefield.
There shall be posted in a conspicuous place
in each autobus a statement of the rates of fare between the various
points upon the routes of each bus.
No autobus shall stop within fifty (50) feet
of any corner in the borough for the purpose of taking on or letting
off passengers. All stops for taking on or letting off passengers
at corners shall be on the near side of the intersecting streets.
Every autobus operated within the borough shall
be equipped with pneumatic tires and shall have one (1) or more lights
on the inside thereof which shall be kept lighted at all times from
one (1) hour after sunset until daylight. Every such bus shall have
a door at each end thereof.
Every autobus operated within the borough shall
carry on the inside thereof in a rack or other place where it can
be readily procured by the passengers an ax for use in case of emergency.
No driver of an autobus shall talk to or carry
on a conversation with the passengers or any other person except to
answer necessary questions.
[Amended 8-26-1991 by Ord. No. 1451]
Every autobus shall be operated carefully and
within the speed limits provided for by law and shall be equipped
with chains or other devices approved by the Director of Public Works
to prevent skidding when necessary because of ice, snow or slippery
condition of the streets.
No autobus shall be operated within the borough
which shall carry more passengers than the number stated in the application
for the license of such autobus, nor shall any passenger be permitted
to stand on the steps of such autobus when the same is in motion.
[Amended 3-25-1985 by Ord. No. 1281; 6-28-2010 by Ord. No.
2133]
A.Â
If this chapter of the Code of the Borough of Ridgefield
provides for the licensing or permitting of the violator, the Mayor
and Council of the Borough of Ridgefield reserve the right to revoke
such permit or license.
B.Â
Any person found guilty of violating this chapter
of the Code of the Borough of Ridgefield shall be subject to a penalty
consisting of a fine or imprisonment, or both, subject to the discretion
of the Judge, the maximum of which shall be the maximum fine or term
of imprisonment permitted to be imposed by the court having jurisdiction
over the violation of this chapter of the Code of the Borough of Ridgefield;
provided, however, that the fine shall not be less than $100 nor more
than $2,000 per offense and the prison term shall not exceed 90 days
in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:49-5.
C.Â
In the event of a continuing violation, each day shall
constitute a separate offense.
