(a) Notice. The Director may periodically issue new licenses to qualified applicants or reissue any license that has been revoked or not renewed under this Chapter, as provided in this Section. The Director must advertise the availability of these licenses in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the County for two consecutive weeks before accepting applications. The Director should also notify, by electronic mail or other reasonable means, any licensee or driver who requests to be notified of the availability of new or reissued licenses. (b) Criteria. The Director may issue new or reissued licenses to qualified applicants, including existing licensees and persons who do not then hold licenses, who meet criteria defined by regulation which promote competition and further the purposes of this Chapter. The criteria must: (1) be based on public convenience and necessity, such as the need for more taxicab services in the County generally or in certain geographic areas of the County, or for certain types of passengers, as shown by such measurements as taxi utilization rates and response times; and (2) consider the performance record of each applicant in providing taxicab service in the County or elsewhere. (c) Individual allocation. Of the new or reissued licenses issued in any 2-year period, at least 50% must be allocated to individuals who: (1) have held a Taxicab Driver Identification Card, and have regularly driven a taxicab in the County, during the preceding 3 years; (2) have a superior driving record, as defined by regulation; and (3) do not already hold a license under this Chapter. In deciding among individuals who qualify under this subsection, the Director must rank them by the number of years that each individual has regularly driven a taxicab in the County. If a sufficient number of qualified individuals do not apply for a license under this subsection, the Director may allocate the remaining licenses to individuals who already hold a license under this Chapter. (d) Biennial limit. During calendar year 2016 the Director must not issue more than 70 new licenses. In each later even-numbered year, the Director may issue a total number of new licenses that does not exceed 10% of the number of licenses then in effect. (e) Additional licenses - extraordinary authority; population limit. The Director may issue more licenses than are authorized under subsection (d) if the Director finds, after holding a public hearing, that additional taxicabs are necessary to improve service to specified geographic areas or types of taxicab users or generally to increase competition. However, the total number of licenses issued must not exceed one license for each 1,000 County residents, as computed in the most recent decennial U.S. Census or any census update published by the appropriate federal agency. (f) Individual limit. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, the Director must not issue a new or reissued license to any licensee that holds more than 40% of the licenses then in effect. (a) 25 to individuals who do not hold a license under this Chapter, and of these, eight must be for accessible vehicles; (b) 25 to fleets that hold fewer than 100 licenses, and of these, eight must be for accessible vehicles; and (c) 50 accessible vehicle licenses to a driver-owned cooperative fleet that the Director determines is a qualified applicant under Chapter 53. (a) A license approved for issuance under Section 2, but for which a taxicab vehicle was not placed in service, must be issued if the applicant: (1) notifies the Department of its intention to place a taxicab vehicle in service under this Section; (2) is a qualified applicant under Chapter 53; and (3) places a taxicab in service not later than January 31, 2019. (b) If any of the 50 accessible licenses allocated to a driver-owned cooperative under Section 2 are not issued to the cooperative by January 31, 2019, either because the Director determines that the cooperative is not a qualified applicant under Chapter 53, or because the cooperative otherwise declines to obtain them, the licenses may be issued to individuals who do not currently hold licenses under this Chapter. (a) Until September 1, 2007, notwithstanding the provisions of Section 53-306(c)(2)(D) and Section 53- 306(c)(3) to the contrary, the Director may issue a temporary identification card to an applicant for a taxicab driver identification card, before the Department receives the results of the state criminal background check required by Section 53-306, if: (1) the applicant submitted all information necessary to process the state criminal background check required by Section 53-306 at least 10 days previously and the Department has not received the results of that background check; (2) the applicant submits an initial criminal history background check, conducted within the previous 10 days by a third-party vendor approved by the Director; (3) this third-party background check covers each jurisdiction in the United States where the applicant resided during the previous 5 years; and (4) this third-party background check does not disclose any information that would disqualify the applicant from receiving an identification card under Section 53-309 (now Section 53-308). (b) For any new passenger vehicle license issued in 2006 under County Code Section 53-205(d), as amended by Section 1 of this Act, the licensee must place the vehicle in taxi service not later than March 31, 2007.

(a) The Director may issue a license only to a qualified applicant under this Chapter. An applicant is qualified if the applicant: (1) meets all requirements of this Chapter and applicable regulations; and (2) pays the initial license fee. (b) The Council must set the initial license fee by resolution adopted under Section 53-107. In setting the amount of the fee, the Council must consider: (1) the County’s interest in encouraging competition and improving customer service; (2) the value of the license in the private market; and (3) the cost to the Department of processing applications and issuing the license.

A person may obtain a license by applying to the Director on a form provided by the Department that, at a minimum, requires the applicant to provide: (a) a statement of financial responsibility, showing the availability of unencumbered financial resources sufficient to place the vehicle into service; (b) a certificate of insurance, a certificate of self-insurance issued by the state motor vehicle agency, or a written statement from an insurance company licensed to do business in Maryland certifying that: (1) the applicant will be able to acquire the required insurance; and (2) the insurance will not be canceled or modified without prior written notice from the insurer to the Department; (c) the applicant’s past customer service record, if the applicant has engaged in taxicab service in any jurisdiction; (d) a statement that the applicant is familiar with the Chapter and applicable regulations, and is not disqualified from holding a license under this Chapter; (e) the applicant’s experience in providing taxicab or other transportation service; (f) a description of the applicant’s financial and managerial resources available to operate and maintain the taxicab as required by law; and (g) the geographic areas the applicant primarily intends to serve, including the extent of the applicant’s willingness to serve areas or types of passengers that need additional service.

The Director must issue a license to each individual applicant who qualifies under this Chapter, subject to the limits and requirements in Section 205 and the procedures in Section 210.

In addition to the information required in Section 53-207, each applicant for a license to be issued under Section 53-205(c) or otherwise to an individual must: (a) specify which fleet or association the applicant will affiliate with before putting the taxicab into service; (b) hold a valid identification card; (c) describe the applicant’s experience driving a taxicab or other commercial passenger vehicle, and the applicant’s experience as a taxicab driver in the County; (d) present evidence of the applicant’s intent to drive the taxicab for 3 years, or if the applicant does not intend to personally drive the taxicab, provide the name of a driver with a valid identification card who is committed and ready to drive the taxicab on a full- time basis; (e) specify the number and type of consumer complaints regarding taxicab service naming the applicant during the past 12 months; (f) have a safe driving record, as defined by applicable regulations; (g) list the applicant’s name, date of birth, current address, and any address where the applicant resided during the previous 5 years; (h) list the applicant’s employment during the preceding 10 years; and (i) show that the applicant, or if the applicant does not intend to personally drive the taxicab, the driver designated under subsection (d), has provided taxicab service in the County satisfactorily for at least 12 months. (j) attest that the applicant has not transferred any license during the previous 36 months.

(a) If the number of applications filed by qualified individual applicants as defined under Sections 205 and 209 equals or is less than the number of new licenses authorized for individual use in a 2-year period, the Director must issue a license to each qualified applicant. If the number of applicants from qualified individuals exceeds the number of new individual licenses authorized for that period, the Director must conduct a lottery among each group of qualified individuals with an equal number of years’ experience regularly driving a taxicab in the County to determine the priority of issuance. (b) Licenses issued by lottery must be awarded under the procedures of this Section and Section 205. (c) The Director may conduct a separate lottery for: (1) licenses for accessible taxicabs; (2) other new licenses that become available; and (3) any other authorized license that become available. (d) A lottery must be conducted so that each qualified applicant has an equal probability of receiving a license, subject to the seniority ranking required by Section 205(c). (e) A lottery may be conducted in 2 separate phases. Phase 1 would determine the recipients of available individual licenses and continue until all available licenses have been awarded. Phase 2 would create an eligibility list for issuance of individual licenses that later become available. The drawing in Phase 2 must continue until twice the number of available licenses have been drawn, or a smaller number if sufficient applicants did not apply for an individual license. The eligibility list created under Phase 2 is valid for the remainder of the 2 year period, or until the next lottery is conducted if longer than 2 years. (f) As licenses become available for reissuance, the Department must notify the applicant highest on the eligibility list that a license is available and of the applicable acceptance procedures and deadlines. The Department must send notice by mail to the address listed by the applicant on the application or to any updated address provided by the applicant in writing to the Department. If the taxicab is not placed in service within 90 days after the license is issued, the Director must revoke the applicant’s eligibility and notify the next applicant on the eligibility list. The Director may extend the time to place a taxicab in service to permit the taxicab to be retrofitted for use as an accessible taxicab. (a) 25 to individuals who do not hold a license under this Chapter, and of these, eight must be for accessible vehicles; (b) 25 to fleets that hold fewer than 100 licenses, and of these, eight must be for accessible vehicles; and (c) 50 accessible vehicle licenses to a driver-owned cooperative fleet that the Director determines is a qualified applicant under Chapter 53. (a) A license approved for issuance under Section 2, but for which a taxicab vehicle was not placed in service, must be issued if the applicant: (1) notifies the Department of its intention to place a taxicab vehicle in service under this Section; (2) is a qualified applicant under Chapter 53; and (3) places a taxicab in service not later than January 31, 2019. (b) If any of the 50 accessible licenses allocated to a driver-owned cooperative under Section 2 are not issued to the cooperative by January 31, 2019, either because the Director determines that the cooperative is not a qualified applicant under Chapter 53, or because the cooperative otherwise declines to obtain them, the licenses may be issued to individuals who do not currently hold licenses under this Chapter.

In addition to the information required in Section 53-207, each applicant for a license issued to a fleet must: (a) submit evidence that the fleet provides or will be able to provide its own centralized administrative, managerial, marketing, operational, dispatch, and driver training services; (b) calculate previous taxicab productivity, as measured by the number of daily trips per taxicab or an equivalent measurement approved by the Director, if the applicant has previously provided taxicab service in any jurisdiction; (c) describe the extent of the applicant’s development of and participation in innovative taxicab services; (d) submit the number of consumer complaints involving taxicab service provided by the applicant, by type, filed with the County or any other government agency in the past 24 months, and the resolution of each complaint; (e) list each enforcement action involving taxicab service provided by the applicant or any of its drivers during the past 24 months of which the applicant is aware, listing the number, violations alleged, and disposition of each action; (f) submit other performance related criteria, as required by regulation; (g) describe all ownership and management interests relating to taxicabs of the applicant and any affiliated, parent, or subsidiary business entity; (h) specify the levels and types of service to be provided; (i) provide evidence of the level of capitalization and expected operating costs; (j) describe the applicant’s existing or proposed hiring and training procedures for drivers; and (k) attest that the applicant has not transferred any license during the previous 36 months.

The Director must not issue or renew a license to any person, licensee, or applicant: (a) who, within five years before the application is submitted, was convicted of, pled guilty or no contest to, or was placed on probation without a finding of guilt for, or who when the application is submitted, has a charge pending for, or who has, within three years before the application was submitted, completed a sentence or period of probation based on a charge for: (1) any offense involving violence or a weapon; (2) any sex offense; (3) soliciting for prostitution; (4) illegal sale or use of alcoholic beverages; (5) any felony involving controlled dangerous substances; (6) any offense involving driving under the influence of alcohol; or (7) any act of moral turpitude; (b) who has a pattern of reasonably verifiable complaints of substandard customer service during the previous 24 months; (c) whose traffic record of “moving” offenses for the 3 years immediately before the application was submitted, or while licensed to drive a taxicab, demonstrates that the applicant is not a responsible, safe, or careful driver. This record may include eyewitness testimony of unsafe or dangerous driving; (d) who makes a false statement or gives a false answer to obtain, or who obtains, a license by fraud, misrepresentation, misleading statements, evasion, or suppression of material fact; (e) who is unable to safely operate a taxicab, who may otherwise endanger the public health, safety, or welfare, or who would be unable to fulfill the duties of a driver as required by applicable regulation; (f) who has substantial delinquent debts to the County, State, or Federal government; or (g) whose record of violations of this Chapter or other laws or regulations of the County, State, or any other jurisdiction indicates to the Director that to protect public safety a license should not be issued. If a license is denied or revoked, the applicant is not eligible to reapply for 2 years, unless the Director for good cause otherwise orders.

(a) A licensee or applicant, as those terms are used in this Section, includes any director, officer, partner, or managing agent, and any other person who effectively controls the operations of a licensee. (b) The Director may decline to issue or renew a license to any licensee or applicant: (1) who has been convicted of fraud, misrepresentation, or false statement in the course of activity in a taxicab business; (2) who, while previously operating in any jurisdiction, has had a license or other permission to operate taxicab services revoked or suspended because of material violation of law or substandard performance; (3) who has failed to keep the licensed taxicab in continuous operation as required by Section 53-226; or (4) who has not complied after reasonable notice with any required safety, operational, or inspection requirement of this Chapter.

A license expires one year after it is issued.

The Director must renew a license if the licensee: (a) is in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, including all required safety, operational, and inspection requirements of this Chapter; (b) submits a statement under oath affirming that the information and statements submitted with the original application have not materially changed, except as previously or then submitted; and (c) pays the required fee.