Section 80-76. Required equipment; standards.
(a) Compliance. Every public vehicle for which a certificate is issued under this chapter shall comply with the requirements for equipment established in this chapter.
(b) Vehicle type, capacity. Each public vehicle regulated by this chapter shall be of the enclosed or sedan type with four doors and of not less than five-passenger capacity.
(c) General mechanical condition; cleanliness; lighting. Each public vehicle regulated by this chapter shall be at all times in good order and repair (i.e., having no damage or rust holes) with the interior of the vehicle kept in good appearance, the windows and doors secure and opening properly, and mechanically safe (i.e., brakes, steering, exhaust system, tires and lights functioning properly); and such vehicle is to be in a clean condition and well ventilated when in operation, so as to render safe, adequate and proper public service, and so as not to be a menace to the safety of the patron of the car or the general public. Every vehicle shall be efficiently lighted at night.
(d) Mechanical inspection.
(1) It shall be the duty of the operator of each public vehicle to submit such motor vehicle to the city manager or designee at least once every three months, for the purpose of having the general mechanical condition of such vehicle examined and tested for safe efficiency.
(2) Upon completion of the inspection, the operator will submit to the city manager, no later than ten days from the inspection date, evidence that the motor vehicle has met the safety requirements of a public transportation vehicle and has passed the safety inspection.
(3) If any such vehicle shall be found to be unsafe, unfit or in an unclean condition, the owner thereof shall be notified at once that such vehicle shall not be operated thereafter until such defective or unclean condition has been remedied to the satisfaction of the city manager.
(e) Letters, numbers required. Each vehicle regulated by this chapter shall bear on the outside on at least two sides the name of the owner in letters not less than five inches high and plainly visible at a distance of 100 feet; and on two sides and the back, the owner's telephone numbers in letters not less than five inches high and plainly visible at a distance of 100 feet.
(f) Taximeters. All public vehicles operated under the authority of this chapter shall be equipped with taximeters fastened in front of the passengers, visible to them at all times day and night, and, after sundown, the face of the taximeter shall be illuminated. Such taximeters shall be operated by a mechanism of standard design and construction, driven either from the transmission or from one of the front wheels by a flexible and permanently attached driving mechanism. They shall be sealed at all points and connections which, if manipulated, would affect their correct reading and recording. Each taximeter shall have thereon a flag to denote when the vehicle is employed and when it is not employed; and it shall be the duty of the driver to throw the flag of such taximeter into a nonrecording position at the termination of each trip. The taximeters shall be subject to inspection from time to time by the city manager or designee. If the taximeter is not in the required working condition, the public vehicle shall be kept out of service until the taximeter is repaired and in the required working condition.
(g) Substitution of equipment. No equipment shall be substituted for that described in the certificate of public convenience and necessity unless and until it has been inspected and approved by the city manager and the substitution or addition has been endorsed on the certificate by the city manager and attested by the city clerk.