HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-02-26 Ordinance 5429DocuSign Envelope ID: 647EBAB9-7C10-4EFC-8D53-09F62AB6871 F
Ordinance No. 5429
Ordinance of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Amending Sections 4.42.190
(Taximeters) and 4.42.200 (Schedule of Rates, Display) of Chapter 4.42 of Title 4
(Business and License Regulations) of the Palo Alto Municipal Code to Allow Taxicab
Service to be Prearranged by Mobile Device Application and Internet Online Service.
The Council of the City of Palo Alto does ORDAIN as follows:
SECTION 1: The Council of the City of Palo Alto finds and declares as follows:
A. The City desires to encourage the taxicab industry to continue servicing c;ity
residents; and
B. The City desires to encourage competition between the taxicab industry and the
transportation network companies by allowing taxicab service to be prearranged with the use of
mobile device applications and internet online services.
SECTION 1. Section 4.42.190 of Chapter 4.42 of Title 4 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code is
hereby amended to read as follows:
4.42.190 Taximeters.
(a) All taxicabs operated under the authority of this chapter, except as provided in subsection (c),
shall be equipped with taximeters of the type and design approved by the police department,
located in the vehicle so as to render the figures visible to the passengers at all times, day and night.
After sundown, the face of the taximeter shall be illuminated. Such taximeter shall be subject to
inspection from time to time by the police department and the police department shall require the
certificate holder to discontinue the operation of any taxicab in which the taximeter is found to
calculate inaccurately until such taximeter is replaced by one approved by the police department or
is adjusted accurately.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (c), it is unlawful for a taxicab driver, while carrying
passengers, to display the flag or the device attached to the taximeter in such position as to denote
that the vehicle is for hire, to cause the taximeter to record when the vehicle is not actually
employed, to fail to cause the device on the taximeter to be placed into a nonrecording position at
the termination of each and every service, or to charge any fare other than that recorded on the
taximeter.
(c) Taxicab service may be prearranged with the use of a mobile device application or internet
online service. The fare charged shall not exceed the scheduled rate filed by the certificate holder
under Chapter 4.42.200. The application or internet online service shall display the fare to the
customer prior to booking in lieu of the posting as required under Chapter 4.42.200. An
"application" shall mean a self-contained program or piece of software application designed to
fulfill requests for dispatch services that is downloadable by a user to a computer or mobile device."
Taxicabs providing prearranged service under this subsection are exempt from the taximeter
requirements stated in subsections (a) and (b).
SECTION 2. Section 4.42.200 of Chapter 4.42 of Title 4 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code is
hereby amended to read as follows:
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