(Credit: Flickr, Leonid Mamchenkov. Creative commons license 2007)
Glens Falls has established new taxi fees for the city as part of an overhaul of the city’s taxicab law, Chapter 198 of the city code. The new fees and the revised law were passed by the Common Council at their meeting Tuesday Dec. 13 after more than a year of work.
Fifth Ward Councilor Mary Gooden chairs the Special Projects Committee and saw the law through its final stages. Councilor-at-large Jim Clark Jr. and Mayor Bill Collins, in previous years when he was councilor, had worked on the project.
“It was a long arduous process,” Clark said as he thanked Gooden for her work in the final stages.
[Read our earlier coverage here.]
The law changes the fees taxi cab companies pay to operate in the city. The city had one flat rate of $60 for any cab and now administers separate fees for the type of vehicle, charging a $30 fee on electric vehicles up to $70 for a Medicab vehicle, which is a vehicle in the state-regulated medical non-emergency transportation system. See the full list of fees below.
The fares that riders pay also have changed from a “zoned” system to a mileage-and-time system. Zoned systems charge flat fares to riders depending on where the cab runs. If a cab stays inside one zone, the rider was charged one fee, as little as $3.
The maximum fee charged within the city is now $15 per trip flat rate inside the city and up to 3 miles outside. There is a charge of $2 to $3 per mile beyond that three-mile radius of the city, depending on the destination, Gooden said.
The city is working with local nonprofit companies and social service agencies to provide ride tokens for people who need assistance with the fare that jumps 500% in the law. Monthly, the cab companies can take ride tokens they have collected from riders to the city to be reimbursed.
Cab companies can now place advertisements inside and outside their vehicles. The companies are no longer required to have a dispatch office inside city limits.
Cab companies had been pushing for the change in the office rule and the increased fares, especially.
Formerly the fees and fares were listed in the law itself, which meant changes to the costs had to be made via a change in the law, a lengthy, cumbersome process, officials have said. The fees and the fares have been separated out of the new law and can be changed with a more simple resolution from the board.
The law also amends Chapter 208 of the city code to include the list of streets where taxicab stands are found, see below.
The law also lists conduct the driver must follow including being “clean and neat in appearance” and shall “refrain from swearing, yelling or boisterous conduct.” The cabs must be inspected annually. The law takes effect once it has been logged by the state.
Sidebar:
Vehicle and Driver License Application Fee (each):
- Electric - $30
- Passenger sedan - $60
- Minivan - $65
- Medicab - $70
- Drivers License - $20
- Rates of fare shall not exceed $15.00 for pickup and drop off within the city of Glens Falls.
Penalties and/or fines for violations to any provision in Chapter 198 of the Glens Falls City Code:
- Fine not to exceed $300.00
- Imprisonment for a term not to exceed 15 days
Streets where taxistands are found: Bay Street; Broad Street; Elm Street; Glen Street; Hudson Avenue; Maple Street; Ridge Street; South Street; Warren Street.