§ 76-191. Required services.

(a)

Holders of taxicab vehicle permits issued under this article are required to offer, and to provide upon demand, city-wide taxicab services 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Each taxicab vehicle permit holder must have one business telephone number that must be accessible 24 hours a day, seven days per week. Such taxicab services shall include the transportation of passengers, messages and packages. In the case of packages, the driver shall have the right to view the contents of a package he/she finds questionable.

(b)

All such holders of taxicab vehicle permits shall render an overall service to the public desiring to use taxicabs. They shall maintain a central non-residential place of business with operating hours from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Sunday. During non-operating hours, the holder of a taxicab vehicle permit and/or his/her agent shall arrive at the central non-residential location within 30 minutes upon notification of a request for services. They shall answer all calls received by them for services within the city, within 30 minutes of receiving such call and, if services cannot be rendered within such time, they shall then notify the prospective customer as to how long it will be before the call can be answered and give the reason why. In cases where a number of vehicle permit holders are grouped in an association operating under a common color scheme, it shall not be necessary that every taxicab belonging to members of that association be in service 24 hours a day so long as the association provides adequate overall service.

(c)

No driver of a taxicab shall willfully refuse, without cause, to:

(1)

Accept a passenger for transportation from any area of trip origin to any area of trip destination within the city;

(2)

Respond to a request for passenger service transmitted to such driver through the taxicab dispatch system;

(3)

Accept guide dogs used by a passenger requesting transportation.

(Ord. No. 150203 , § 2, 4-9-15; Ord. No. 160938 , § 1, 2-16-17)