Division 5. Taxicab Vehicles.

Before the Director issues any passenger vehicle license under this Chapter, the applicant must submit written proof of insurance or self-insurance for the vehicle that covers bodily injury or death to any passenger or other person, and property damage, in the following amounts:

The insurance must be provided by an insurer licensed to do business in the State or, alternatively, under a self insurance program approved and administered by the state motor vehicle agency.

If the insurance coverage lapses at any time during the license term, the taxicab license is automatically suspended. The licensee must immediately notify the Department, stop operating the taxicab, and surrender the license to the Department. The Director must promptly reinstate the license if all required insurance coverage is documented to the Director’s satisfaction.

Each taxicab must contain sufficient copies of a summary of insurance information, in a form approved by the Director, that may be given to passengers, members of the public, and law enforcement officers. The summary must include:

the maximum credit card processing charge under Section 53-218(f)(1);

the dispute resolution requirements under Section 53-219;

the deletion of the driver examination requirement under former Section 53-308 (deleted as of October 1, 2015); and

the minimum liability insurance requirements under Section 53-224.

Each licensee must keep each licensed taxicab in continuous operation as defined by applicable regulation.

The Executive must by method (2) regulation define continuous operation using a formula that:

Each licensee must notify the Department in writing at any time that:

Each notice must:

Each licensee must notify the Department in writing at least 3 business days before placing a taxicab in service.

Each licensee must place a taxicab in service within 90 days after a license is approved for issuance. Issuance of the license take effect when the vehicle is placed in service; if the vehicle is not actually placed in service, the license has not been issued. The Director may extend the time to place a taxicab in service for no more than 90 additional days:

Each licensee must notify the Department at least 3 business days before removing a taxicab permanently from service, whether the owner junks the vehicle, sells it, or transfers its title.

Each licensee must notify the Department if a vehicle’s license plates have been stolen or its registration or license has been suspended or revoked. Any vehicle without a valid registration or with expired, revoked or suspended license plates must not be used to provide taxicab service.

When a taxicab is permanently out of service, the licensee must return the license to the Department and must remove the meter, cruising lights, and any other marking or sign that identifies the vehicle as a taxicab.

Each licensee must receive the Department’s approval before taking a taxicab out of service for a period longer than 30 days. The licensee must explain why the taxicab is out of service and list its license number, assigned vehicle number, and registration numbers. If the Department finds that the licensee has good cause, as defined by applicable regulations, to take the taxicab out of service, the Department may approve that action. If the Department rejects the application, the licensee must promptly reinstate the taxicab in service or return the license.

Any vehicle placed in service as a taxicab must not be more than five model years old.

Except for vehicles that are hybrid, electric, or wheelchair accessible, a licensee must not use any vehicle that is older than ten model years to provide taxicab service in the County.

A licensee must not use any hybrid, electric, or wheelchair accessible vehicle that is older than twelve model years to provide taxicab service in the County.

As used in this Chapter, the “model year” of a vehicle is the year designated by the vehicle manufacturer, as indicated on the vehicle or in the manufacturer’s records. A licensee may continue to maintain a taxicab vehicle in service until the December 31st of the succeeding calendar year after a taxicab vehicle ages out of service due to the end of its model year, if the vehicle passes a comprehensive safety inspection performed during the month of August of the vehicle’s final model year by a state-certified inspector in good standing.

The Director may waive this requirement only to maintain an accessible taxicab in service for no more than 90 days when the licensee shows that no adequate replacement vehicle was available for purchase during the preceding 90 days.

Each licensee must maintain each taxicab in a clean and safe operating condition, and properly maintain its lights, brakes, window glass, doors, tires, fenders, paint, upholstery, and all devices and parts affecting the vehicle’s safety, operation, or appearance.

Each licensee must comply with any order of the Director to immediately remove from service any taxicab which is not in safe operating condition, and to remove from service within 5 days any taxicab that is not clean, sanitary, and of good appearance, until all necessary repairs and replacement of defective equipment, painting, or cleaning has been completed.

Any taxicab removed from service under this Section must not be reinstated in service until it has been inspected and approved under procedures established by applicable regulation.

When a license for a taxicab is issued under this Chapter, the Department must assign a license number to the taxicab. The licensee (or the fleet, if the vehicle is affiliated with a fleet) must assign a vehicle number to each taxicab. The vehicle number must be permanently applied and plainly visible.

When the Director so orders, the license number must be affixed to the taxicab by decal or metal tag provided by the Department in a manner approved by the Director.

Numbers must be assigned only in the manner designated by the Director. A person must not remove, reassign, or change a number from one vehicle to another without written authorization by the Department.

The licensee must place lettering on the passenger side of the taxicab, in a form and manner approved by the Director, identifying the licensee.

A taxicab operating in the County must have the license number, and the name and telephone number of the fleet or association that owns or operates it and to whom complaints can be made, prominently displayed in the rear seat area of the taxicab with lettering and numbering at least 1.5 inches high. If the operator is not the owner, as defined in Section 53-101, the name, telephone number, and business address of the owner must similarly be prominently displayed.

A licensee must post a rate chart issued by the Department in the taxicab in a location conspicuously visible to any passenger.

Each taxicab operated in the County must have at least 3 doors. All doors must operate safely.

A licensee or driver must not operate a taxicab unless the taxicab bears markings in letters plainly distinguishable on each of the 2 sides of the taxicab, showing the approved name of the fleet or association by whom the taxicab is owned or operated.

Each fleet or association must register its colors with the Department. A fleet or association may register one or more color combinations, and any fleet or association may register black as one of its colors. A fleet or association must not use colors that are similar to those of another fleet or association so that the public can readily identify taxicabs operated by that fleet or association. The Director may approve advertising in different colors or markings as long as the public can still readily identify taxicabs operated by that licensee, or the use of a set of different colors and markings to identify a specialized service provided by or geographic area served by a fleet or association. Any color or color combination approved by the Department, other than black, must be reserved for the exclusive use of that fleet or association when the fleet or association is operating taxicabs in the County.

Each licensee must insure that each fleet or association uses only the approved name of the fleet or association in advertising or listing its service to the public.

Each taxicab must be equipped with:

In addition to regular inspections, the Department may conduct periodic tests of these meters or metering systems. Upon successful completion of the tests, a taximeter must be affixed with a security seal, and a software-based metering system must be marked in a manner acceptable to the Department. These tests should be scheduled in a manner that minimizes interruption of taxicab service to the public.

Except as otherwise specified, the requirements for approval and methods of testing and operation of taximeters must conform to specifications, tolerances, and standards for taximeters set out in national standards or established by applicable regulation.

A person must not alter the meter or change the mechanical condition of wheels, tires, or gears of any taxicab with the intent to cause incorrect registration by the meter of the fare charged to any passenger.

Each licensee must allow the Director to make reasonable inspections of any vehicle licensed to operate under this Chapter, and must allow the Director to examine any business record, including any maintenance record, in-service inquiry or dispatching record required to analyze data and enforce this Chapter, and all trip records required under this Chapter. Maintenance record includes any record needed to establish whether safety repairs have been made, or that reflects the mileage and odometer readings of any vehicle.

On the request of any inspector or law enforcement officer, any licensee or driver must produce any required license or identification card or a valid driver’s license.

Each driver must respond to an oral request within 60 minutes when any trip record required under Section 53-314 is requested during a field investigation by an inspector or law enforcement officer. Each fleet or association must make available a direct telephone line to the Department and the County Police Department on which the fleet or association must transmit any record it possesses of any trip taken or dispatched on the same or the previous day, within 60 minutes after any inspector or law enforcement officer requests the record.

Each taxicab licensed under this Chapter must undergo a complete inspection of its mechanical condition and any special equipment used to transport persons with disabilities every 12 months at a time and place designated by the Department. The inspection must be performed by a licensed state inspector at a state-certified inspection station in good standing. The Director must immediately, without holding a hearing, suspend the license of any taxicab in an unsafe physical or mechanical condition. The Director must immediately reinstate any unexpired suspended license after receiving satisfactory proof that the violation or defect has been corrected.