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HomeMy WebLinkAboutORD NO 4013ORDINANCE NO. z[ 0 I 3 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING PORTIONS OF CHAPTER 5.50 OF THE BAKERSFIELD MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO TAXICABS BE IT ORDAINED by the Council of the City of Bakersfield as follows: SECTION 1. Portions of Chapter 5.50 are hereby amended to read as follows: 5.50.020 Permit-.Required--Exceptions. A. Except as provided herein, no person shall drive, operate or cause to be operated, nor shall any person employ, permit or allow another to drive, operate or cause to be operated, any vehicle covered by this chapter over any street of the city for the purpose of transporting a passenger, or passengers, for compensation, regardless of whether such operation extends beyond the boundary limits of the city, without a permit first obtained from the city manager authorizing such operation. Said permit shall be in the immediate possession of every taxicab driver while operating a taxicab and shall be visible to all passengers within a taxicab. Exceptions to this section are as follows: 1. A vehicle which is lawfully transporting a passenger or passengers from a point outside Bakersfield city limits, to a destination within city limits, or is en route through this city to a destination outside the city; provided, that no such vehicle shall, without such permit, solicit or accept a passenger, or passengers, from within Bakersfield city limits for transportation to any destination whatsoever; 2. A vehicle being operated pursuant to a franchise issued by the city, pursuant to authority of the Public Utilities Commission of the state, or pursuant to regulations of the Interstate Commerce Commission, unless authorized by law; 3. A vehicle being operated for the purpose of transporting bona fide pupils attending an institution of learning between the~ homes and such institutions. (Ord. 3862 § 1 (part), 1998: Ord. 2598 § 10, 1980; prior code § 7.52.010) 5.50.090 Vehicle identification. A. No permit shall be granted to any carrier to operate any. ve. hic. le.~vered by this chapter whose color scheme, name, trade name, monogram or ins~gma is in conflict with, or in imitation of, any color scheme, name, trade name, monogram or insignia used by any other carrier as defined in subsection A of Section 5.50.010, and which shall be of such character and nature as to be misleading or deceptive to the public. B. All color schemes or changes in color schemes shall be approved by the city manager prior to a carrier conducting business under this chapter. (Ord. 3862 § 1 (part), 1998: prior code § 7.52.080) Page 1 of 4 5.50.110 Numbers. A. A series of numbers shall be assigned by the chief of police to carriers for use on their taxicabs. B. Each taxicab operated pursuant to the terms of this chapter shall be numbered. C. Numbers shall be displayed on the driver-side, passenger-side and rear of the taxicab and painted upon the body of the taxicab in numerals of a size, color, visibility and position or positions approved from time to time by the chief of police. (Ord. 3862 § 1(part), 1998: prior code § 7.52.100) 5.50.130 Vehicle equipment--Inspection. A. All vehicles operated by any carrier as defined in subsection A of Section 5.50.010 shall, before being placed in service, be approved by the chief of police of the city and comply with all State of California statutes regulating taxicabs. All the vehicles shall be of a design and type of construction as shall comply with orders and regulations pertaining to the equipment adopted from time to time by the city manager. The vehicles shall at all times be kept in a clean and sanitary condition and in good state of repair, and shall be subject to constant inspection by the chief of police. Any vehicle which becomes unsafe, or unserviceable, either from the standpoint of its state of repair, or its condition of obsolescence, may be retired from service upon order of the chief of police, and no vehicle which has been so retired shall be again operated in such service except with approval of the chief of police. B. It shall be unlawful for a carrier or taxicab driver to operate a taxicab without being inspected and having a valid inspection sticker issued by the chief of police for service within the city. C. It shall be unlawful to operate a taxicab after being placed out~of-service without being re-inspected and re-stickered by the chief of police for the city. D. In the event the condition of any vehicle shall, in the opinion of the chief of police, be so unclean, unsightly or mechanically defective as to be undesirable for use by the public, the chief of police may require such vehicle to be immediately withdrawn from service and such vehicle shall not be again placed in service until approved by the chief of police. E. It is unlawful for a taxicab or its driver to carry, contain or otherwise possess or receive information from any type of device, which monitors other taxicab activities, or public safety calls. (Ord. 3862 § 1 (part), 1998: prior code § 7.52.120) 5.50.140 Taximeter--Operation, placement, inspection, flag and charges. A. It is unlawful for any carrier to operate any taxicab in the city unless and until such taxicab is equipped with a taximeter of a design which has been approved by the chief of police, and it shall be the duty of the carrier operating such taxicab, and also the driver thereof, to keep such meter operating at all times within such standard of accuracy as may be prescribed from time to time by the chief of police. No passenger shall be. carried in any such taxicab unless such taximeter is in operation. This provision shall apply regardless of whether the taxicab is engaged for a trip entirely within the boundaries of the city or partially outside thereof, and such meter shall be kept operating continuously during the entire time that it is engaged in the transportation of passengers for compensation, regardless of the point of destination, provided such destination is within five miles of any exterior boundary of the city. .~ ~(E.~,~ Page 2 of 4 ~- ORIGINAL B. The taximeter shall be placed in each taxicab so that the reading dial showing the amount to be charged is well lighted and readily discernible to a passenger riding in any such taxicab. C. Every taximeter used in the operation of taxicabs shall be subject to inspection at any time by the chief of police, or his representatives. Upon discovery of any inaccuracy of such taximeter, the operator thereof shall remove, or cause to be removed from service any vehicle equipped with such taximeter until such taximeter has been repaired and accurately adjusted. D. Every taximeter shall be inspected, tested and affixed with a label for accuracy for the current year by "Kern County Weights and Measures" at the carriers expense. No such label shall be removed except at the time a subsequent inspection is made. Every carrier shall provide a copy of the taximeter inspection sheet to be placed in the carriers file and a copy will be retained in the vehicle for inspection at any time. The date on which such inspection was made shall be stamped in the blank space provided for that purpose. No such label shall be removed except at the time a subsequent inspection is made. E It is unlawful for any driver of any taxicab, while carrying passengers, to display the "flag" attached to the taximeter in such a position as to denote that such vehicle is not employed, or to fail to threw the "flag" of the taximeter to a position indicating such vehicle is unemployed at the termination of each and every service. F. All charges for taxicab service shall be calculated and indicated by a taximeter, and at all times while the taxicab is engaged, the "flag" of the taximeter shall be thrown into a position to register charges for mileage, or into a position to register charges for waiting time. No taximeter shall be used whose mechanism will register a combined charge for mileage and waiting time in any single position, and no taximeter shall be so operated as to cause any charge to be registered thereon except during the time while a passenger, or passengers engage the taxicab. (Ord. 3862 § 1 (part), 1998: Ord. 2598 § 11, 1980; prior code § 7.52.130) SECTION 2. This Ordinance shall be posted in accordance with the provisions of the Bakersfield Municipal Code and shall become effective thirty (30) days from and after the date of its passage. .......... ooOoo .......... Page 3 of 4 OHiSINAL I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing Ordinance was passed and adopted by the Council of the City of Bakersfield at a regular meeting thereof held on ~UG 8 ZI)~I by the following vote: AYES: NOES: ABSTAIN: ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBER CARSON, ~c~..IAM, MAGGARD, COUCH, HANSON, SULLIVAN, SALVAGGIO COUNClLMEMBER ~ (3~'~ COUNClLMEMBER ]~ 0 COUNClLMEMBER ~ ~J'.~ CITY CLERK and EX OFFICIO of the Council of the City of Bakersfield APPROVED: /~G 8 ZOO1 I~.a~:~VL~f ~.. HALL, Ma~,~r CITY OF BAKERSFIELD APPROVED AS TO FORM: BART J. THILTGEN City A~o~ Deputy City Attorney VG:alj S:\CO U NCIL\Ords\5.50TaxicabAm end 2.wpd Page 4 of 4 ORIGINAL AFFIDAVIT OF POSTING DOCUMENTS STATE OF CALIFORNIA) ) SS. County of Kern ) PAMELA A. McCARTHY, being duly sworn, deposes and says: That she is the duly appointed, acting and qualified City Clerk of the City of Bakersfield; and that on the 9th day of August , 2001 she posted on the Bulletin Board at City Hall, a full, true and correct copy of the following: Ordinance No. 4013 , passed by the Bakersfield City Council at a meeting held on the 8th entitled: day of August 2001 and AN ORDINANCE AMENDING PORTIONS OF CHAPTER 5.50 OF THE BAKERSFIELD MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO TAXICABS. /s/PAMELA A. McCARTHY City Clerk of the City of Bakersfield DEPUTY"~;ity Clerk "0 'J S:\Docum ent\FORMS~AOP.ORD.wpd August 9, 2001 ORIGINAL