Taxi By-Law No. 6884
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TAXI BY-LAW NO. 6884 BEING A BY-LAW of The City of Brandon to provide for the licensing, controlling, regulating and safety of taxicabs within the municipality. WHEREAS Section 23 of The Highway Traffic Act provides, in part, as follows: "23(1) The council of a municipality may, by by-law, require every person conducting or carrying on an automobile livery, or letting or having motor vehicles, including drive-yourself automobiles and taxicabs, for hire or gain, within the municipality, or using the streets thereof in connection with such a business, to take out an annual license from the municipality, and to pay a license fee therefor of such amount as is fixed by by-law for, or in respect of, each motor vehicle so used." "23(2) The council of a municipality may, by by-law, make rules and regulations for prohibiting, limiting, controlling and regulating any such business or occupation, including, without restricting the generality of the foregoing, the definition of various classes of vehicles, the fixing of rates or tolls to be charged, either by zones, meters or any other method, the creation of zones, the installation and inspection of meters in taxicabs, the powers and duties of inspectors, the placing of insurance for the protection of persons and property, and the location or use of taxicab ranks or stands." AND WHEREAS Subsection 232(1) of The Municipal Act, RSM 1996, c.M225, provides authority for the municipality to pass by-laws respecting the safety, health, protection and well-being of people; AND WHEREAS it is deemed expedient and in the public interest to license the owners and drivers of taxicabs, to ensure the safety of the public in The City of Brandon; NOW THEREFORE the Council of The City of Brandon, in open session assembled, enacts as follows: PART I TITLE AND DEFINITIONS 1.1 This by-law may be cited as "The Taxi By-law". 1.2 Words importing the singular or masculine only also include the plural or feminine or body corporate where the context requires. 1.3 In this by-law, unless the context thereof otherwise requires, the following definitions shall apply: (a) "AFFILIATION AGREEMENT" means an agreement made between the holders of a Business License Certificate (Business Licensee) and independent holders of vehicle registrations, whereby a vehicle registrant agrees to operate, or have operated, the vehicles for which Taxicab Permits have been obtained by the Business Licensee, as part of the Business Licensee's Taxicab Business. (b) "APPLICANT" means a person who applies for a License or Permit, and shall also mean a person who is appealing the refusal, revocation, or suspension of a license or permit. Taxi By-Law No. 6884 Page 2 of 23 1.3 (c) “BUS” means any motor vehicle which would qualify as a taxicab with the exception that: i) such a vehicle must be designed to carry eleven (11) or more passengers unless otherwise stated; and ii) the vehicle is not equipped with a taxi meter, and is not licensed with the City of Brandon as a limousine or handicab vehicle. (d) "BUSINESS LICENSE CERTIFICATE" means a certificate issued by the Treasury Department of the City of Brandon, pursuant to the provisions of this by-law, authorizing the person named therein to carry on a taxicab business. (e) "BUSINESS LICENSEE" means a person who holds a subsisting Business License Certificate issued to such person by the Treasury Department pursuant to the provisions of this by-law. (f) "CHARTER VEHICLE” means a bus, limousine or handicab vehicle. (g) "CITY" means the City of Brandon, a municipal corporation in the Province of Manitoba, and where the context so requires means the area contained within the corporate boundaries of the said municipality. (h) "CITY COUNCIL" means the Municipal Council of the City of Brandon. (i) "COMPENSATION" or "HIRE" means the fare, toll, gain, fee or rate charged, collected, or intended to be charged or collected, from any person for the carriage of a person or persons or property by or in a taxicab and includes remuneration of any kind paid, promised or demanded, direct or indirect, as well as personal services or the sharing of any expense of the operation of, or of work done by or upon a taxicab. (j) “CONTRACT” means a pre-arranged written agreement between a business licensee and another person containing information as to the terms of service to be provided as well as the compensation for the service. (k) "DEVELOPMENT PERMIT" means a permit issued under the provisions of the City of Brandon Zoning By-law. (l) “HANDICAB VEHICLE” means a vehicle that is equipped with a wheelchair ramp or lift and is operated for the transportation of physically disabled persons and their attendants. (m) "INTER-LIVERY LICENSE" is a license issued by the Province of Manitoba authorizing the vehicle in question to operate as a taxicab outside the boundaries of any one municipality. (n) "LICENSE" means a license granted by the City of Brandon entitling the person to whom it is granted to carry on such activity therein named and includes taxicab and driver’s permits issued pursuant to Part III and Part IV of this by-law. The said license shall either be in the form of a written certificate and showing thereon the type of business engaged in, or in the form of a decal on which is inscribed the type of service licensed. Taxi By-Law No. 6884 Page 3 of 23 1.3 (o) "LIMOUSINE" means any luxury motor vehicle: (i) excepting vehicles registered with the City of Brandon as limousines at date of passage of this by-law, with seating capacity of seven persons or more, which would otherwise qualify as a taxicab, or bus with the exception that the vehicle has an extended wheel base, and (ii) is unmarked and not equipped with taxicab signage, and is not equipped with a taxi meter or rate card. This by-law shall not apply to the operation of limousines ancillary to other businesses where such limousines are not offered to the public for rental purposes other than for the transportation of persons required for the primary business. (p) "PEACE OFFICER" means a member of the Brandon Police Service , including By- law Enforcement Officers. (q) "PERSON" means a natural person or a body corporate and includes a partnership, a group of persons acting in concert, or an association, unless the context explicitly or by necessary implication otherwise requires. (r) "PHYSICALLY DISABLED PERSON" means an individual who by reason of illness, injury, age, congenital malfunctions or other permanent or temporary incapacity or disability, is unable, without special facility or special planning or design, to utilize available transportation facilities. (s) "POLICE CHIEF" means the Chief of Police of the Brandon Police Service and includes any person designated by the Chief of Police to perform his duties with respect to this By-law. (t) "TAXICAB" means a motor vehicle, with a minimum of four doors, equipped with a taxi meter for the purpose of transporting persons for compensation and includes charter vehicles unless otherwise exempted but, does not include: (1) a public service vehicle; (2) a trolley bus or passenger carrying motor vehicle of a public transportation system operating in the streets of the City; (3) a school bus; (4) an ambulance; (5) a hearse; (6) a motor vehicle exempt under the provisions of this by-law; (7) any motor vehicle owned and/or operated by a hotel or motel business in the City providing direct customer service without charge to or from the Brandon Municipal Airport; (8) any vehicle owned and/or operated by an individual for the purpose of providing a passenger shuttle service shall be exempt from this by-law provided that such exemption is conditional on the owner/operator not transporting for compensation or hire any passenger from one point to another within the corporate limits of Brandon and that failure to comply with such condition shall cause the owner to be in violation of the provisions of this by-law. (9) any vehicle operated ancillary to other businesses where such vehicles are not offered to the public for compensation or hire other than for the transportation of persons required for the primary business. (u) "TAXICAB DRIVER" means any person who is required to be licensed pursuant to this by-law to drive vehicles licensed under the provisions of this by-law. Taxi By-Law No. 6884 Page 4 of 23 1.3 (v) "TAXI DRIVER'S PERMIT" means the permit issued by the Treasury Department, pursuant to the provisions of this by-law, authorizing the person named therein to drive vehicles licensed under the provisions of this by-law. (w) "TAXICAB PERMIT DECAL" means the permit decal issued annually or seasonally by the Treasury Department, pursuant to the provisions of this by-law, for attachment to the vehicle licensed under the provisions of this by-law. (x) "VEHICLE REGISTRANT" means the person to which a vehicle is legally registered with the Province of Manitoba Driver and Vehicle Licensing Office. PART II LICENSING OF TAXICAB BUSINESSES 2.1 Any business with its office located in another municipality that operates taxicabs pursuant to a Provincial inter-livery license and delivers passengers to or from a municipality other than the City of Brandon shall not be subject to this part of the by-law. 2.2 Any person who owns, operates or otherwise engages in the operation of taxicabs in the City, other than by affiliation with an existing business licensee, shall be required for such purpose, to be the holder of a valid and subsisting Business License Certificate for such purpose, issued by the Treasury Department and to pay the fee specified in the City’s annual Fee Schedule By-law.