DEPARTMENT: Police Department
DEPARTMENT HEAD: William McManus, Chief of Police
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Citywide
SUBJECT:
Proposed Chapter 33 Revisions - Vehicles for Hire Ordinance
SUMMARY:
City staff, the taxicab industry and a group of independent driver representatives have worked over the last seven months to evaluate and discuss potential modifications to the Chapter 33 Vehicle-for-Hire ordinance. After months of effort, City Council is now being presented with several proposed changes for its consideration. These include the:
?Creation of a single owner/operator category for taxicabs and the removal of the taxicab
permit cap
?Elimination of certain limousine requirements
?Removal of all Transportation Network Company (TNC) related portions of Chapter 33
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Taxicabs
In past years there have been various changes made to the Chapter 33 Vehicle-for-Hire ordinance. During the recent planning proceedings for these revisions, a group of approximately 200 independent taxicab drivers submitted a petition to SAPD requesting the creation of an owner/operator permit category for drivers within Chapter 33.
At the November 30th B-session with City Council, SAPD presented the taxicab driver's petition and outlined the requests initiated by the independent drivers group. As a result, City Council directed staff to investigate the owner/operator request and identify any potential obstacles within Chapter 33 for companies wanting to enter the Vehicle - for - Hire market. After several meetings and discussions with representatives from the independent drivers group and existing taxicab companies, a recommendation was formed that if the City was to incorporate the owner/operator business model into the Vehicle - for - Hire industry, then the permit cap (1/1,700 population) would also be removed which would creating an open market for Taxicab permits.
In March 2017, the Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) reviewed the ...
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