§ 12. TAXICABS
A.
DEFINITIONS
(1)
Taxicab , as used herein, shall mean and include any vehicle used in the City of Santa Fe to carry passengers for hire; excepting, however, motor buses operating on a fixed route.
(2)
Person , as used herein, shall include any person, firm, or corporation.
(3)
Driver shall mean the chauffeur of a taxicab.
(4)
Operation , as used herein, shall include receiving any passenger for transport, but shall not include solely taking a passenger to a destination and leaving him.
B.
PERMIT REQUIRED
No person shall operate a taxicab within the City of Santa Fe or cause the same to be operated, without first obtaining a permit therefor. Applications for taxicab permits shall be made to the city secretary and shall contain the following information:
(1)
Name of person or corporation making application; if corporation, give name of officers.
(2)
Place of residence of applicant, if individual; home office if corporation.
(3)
Trade name identifying taxicab.
(4)
Location where taxicab to be stationed.
(5)
Type vehicles to be used as taxicab.
(6)
Give motor number, model, make, latest Texas license number of vehicle.
(7)
Name of record title holder of vehicle.
(8)
State whether applicant has ever been convicted of a felony offense.
(9)
Attach original Certificate of Title of vehicle or copy thereof.
(10)
Attach inspection report of competent mechanic giving date of inspection, license number of vehicle inspected, mechanical condition of car, including condition of lights, brakes, steering apparatus.
Upon receipt of such application, the city secretary shall present the same to the city council. Upon consideration, the city council may grant or refuse such application for a permit, as in their discretion may seem to the best interest of the public.
C.
ISSUANCE OF LICENSE; INSURANCE
If the city council shall approve any application filed hereunder, the city secretary shall thereupon issue a taxicab permit for the operation of the vehicle made the subject of such application to the applicant, subject however, to the following:
(1)
That the applicant shall pay a license fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00), or a pro rate portion thereof if the license is issued for less than a year.
(2)
(a)
That the applicant shall deposit with the city secretary a policy of public liability insurance satisfactory to the city secretary, executed by an agent of an insurance company duly authorized to do business in the State of Texas, performable in Galveston County, Texas, insuring the public against any loss or damage that may result to any person or property from the operation of such vehicle which shall be described in the policy in like manner as in the permit covering the same, the minimum amount of recovery under such policy of insurance to be five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) for the injury or death of any one (1) person, and ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00) for the injury or death of more than one (1) person in a single accident; and not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) for damage or destruction of property in one (1) accident.
(b)
The owner of such taxicab may file, in lieu of an insurance policy, a surety bond in the amount of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00), approved by the city secretary of the City of Santa Fe, executed by the owner as principal and a solvent corporation authorized to do a bond business under the laws of the State of Texas as surety, which bond shall be conditioned for the payment of all final judgments which may be rendered against the principal in the bond for damages on account of death or injury to persons, or damage to property; including both passengers and members of the public generally, occasioned by the operation of such vehicle, which shall be described in like manner in the bond as in the permit covering the same.
(c)
All insurance policies shall contain a provision for continuing liability thereon up to the full amount thereof, notwithstanding any previous recovery thereon. All bonds shall provide for successive recoveries to the full extent of the amount of the bond, but not exceeding such amount.
(d)
Each policy or bond, anything therein to the contrary notwithstanding, shall be governed by the provisions of this section.
(e)
Such insurance policy or bond shall not be cancelled without giving ten (10) days notice in writing of such cancellation to the insured and to the city secretary.
(f)
Suit may be brought to recover under such insurance policy or bond without joinder of the City of Santa Fe or any official of said city. Neither the city of Santa Fe nor any officer thereof shall be liable for the pecuniary responsibility or solvency of any insurer on any policy or surety on any bond given to meet the requirements of this section, or on account of any claims or act or omission relating to any vehicle licensed hereunder.
(g)
The insurance policy or bond deposited hereunder shall remain in continuing force and effect so long as any permit shall be in effect on any vehicle licensed hereunder.
(3)
The applicant shall provide the city secretary with a good and sufficient surety bond in the sum of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) payable to the mayor of the City of Santa Fe and his successors in office, conditioned that the applicant will abide by all the rules, regulations, and ordinances of the City of Santa Fe.
D.
PERMITS
The permits issued hereunder shall be signed by the city secretary and sealed with the Seal of the City. It shall be dated on the day of its issuance, shall show the name and address of the permittee, bear a serial number, show motor number and model of taxicab, and bear date of expiration.
(1)
Renewal of Permits
All permits issued hereunder shall expire on the thirty-first (31st) day of December of the year issued and shall be renewed upon payment of an annual permit fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00) or pro rata portion thereof if issued for less than a year.
(2)
Display of Permit
The permit issued hereunder shall be displayed in a conspicuous place in the vehicle for which issued.
(3)
Nonassignable
Permits issued under the provisions of this section shall not be assignable.
(4)
Number of Permits
No more than two (2) permits shall be granted.
E.
REVOCATION OF PERMIT
Any permit issued hereunder may be revoked by the city council of the City of Santa Fe at any time it shall be made evident to the city council that the permittee has violated any provision of this section, or if it shall be made evident to the city council that the operator or operators of the vehicle licensed hereunder shall repeatedly violate any traffic laws, statute, or ordinance. Upon notice of such revocation, the permittee shall surrender his permit to the city secretary.
F.
INDEMNITY
The permittee shall indemnify and hold the city harmless from any liability, cost, damage, and expense of whatever character arising out of or in any manner resulting from the operation of any taxicab by permittee, under the terms of this section.
G.
MARKING OF TAXICABS
Each taxicab shall have on each side, and in the rear thereof, the name of the permittee, or his trade name in visible contrasting lettering at least two inches (2") in height, and shall have painted on at least one (1) side the number of the permit issued for it. All taxicabs operating under the same trade name shall be of identical color.
H.
DRIVER
No person shall drive a taxicab unless he is duly licensed as a chauffeur by the Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas. Such driver shall register with the chief of police giving his name, age, residence, ownership of taxicab to be operated by him, and fingerprints and photograph. The chief of police shall thereupon cause a registration receipt to issue; provided, however, that no such receipt shall issue to any person found not of good character, and not familiar with traffic laws and ordinances, or who has been convicted of a felony or crime involving moral turpitude.
The photograph, fingerprints, and description of the driver of any taxicab licensed hereunder, shall appear in a conspicuous place inside such taxicab. No driver or any permittee hereunder shall knowingly permit any taxicab to be used in the perpetration of a crime.
I.
INSPECTION
Every vehicle for which a permit shall be issued hereunder shall be inspected by a competent mechanic every sixty (60) days and a statement evidencing such inspection, giving the date and motor number of the vehicle, shall upon demand be presented to the chief of police. Such inspection shall be at the expense of the owner of such taxicab.
J.
PASSENGERS
No more than four (4) passengers shall be transported in a taxicab at one and the same time. No more than one (1) passenger shall be seated in the front seat of any taxicab. No person shall be admitted to a taxicab occupied by a passenger without the consent of the original passenger.
The driver shall take his passenger to his destination by the most direct available route from the place where the passenger enters the taxicab.
(Ordinance No. 04-81 of February 12, 1981)