Denying that a lawsuit filed against the town by a taxi and limousine service influenced them, the Town Council introduced an ordinance Feb. 10 that modified taxi and limo regulations.
Under the new ordinance, requirements for taxi liability insurance would be lessened from the current $1.5 million to $300,000. The ordinance also would require, where possible, vehicles operating as taxis to post the name of their company on the doors and those operating as limos to post their name on the rear of the vehicle.
The ordinance would also require taxicabs operating in Secaucus to have license plate numbers from OL4000 through OL9999 – which under state law designates them as taxis, not limos. Under state regulations, a taxi is a vehicle that comes when a passenger calls or flags it down on the street. A limo service is one that picks up passengers as the result of a call or reservation in advance. This distinction matters partly because of the insurance required is greater for taxis, as the risk of injury or accident is greater.
Town Attorney Frank Leanza said the license plate regulations would help the police enforce state regulations. Many of the vehicles operating as taxis in town have been purchasing limo insurance that is must less expensive.
The owners of Access Limousine and Taxi Service in Secaucus filed a lawsuit recently against the town complaining that town regulations make it impossible for the company to make a reasonable profit. They have complained about uneven enforcement in local laws, and about the heavy burden the $1.5 million required coverage costs the company in fees. Under the town’s requirement, each cab could cost as much as $70,000 in premiums a year. Limo insurance can be half to a third of this cost. The state average for taxi insurance coverage is about $300,000.
In order to get taxi companies to comply with purchasing the correct coverage, the town is reducing its requirement to the state average, Leanza said.
“Even at $300,000 coverage the cost per cab could be between $16,000 to $20,000 per year,” he said.
By requiring the taxis to have specific range of license plates numbers, the town police can better enforce the regulations concerning taxi service.
“Until now, the police had no way of knowing if a vehicle was supposed to be operating as a taxi or a limo,” Leanza said, “unless the officer interviewed the passenger. With the specific plates, the police will know which is which, and will be able to determine if the vehicle is operating as it should.”
Police Chief Dennis Corcoran said he would likely put off the usual April taxi and limo inspections until May in order to allow the various companies to comply with the new regulations.
This raised the concern of Lyle Semelmacher, owner of L&S Transportation in Secaucus, who charged that while the company met the current letter of the law, many of the other companies operating in town did not. He said changing the rules and the date of inspection was unfair to companies like his who had always operated legally.
The new rules would also require companies to list their parent company as well as the operating name on the door of the cabs, since some parent companies have been operating under several other names.
Councilman Christopher Marra also complained that some companies changed their rates depending upon weather and traffic conditions. While limos can negotiate prices with customers, taxi companies must submit a rate sheet to Town Hall. One sheet, Marra found, showed that one company had actually jacked up their prices by 200 percent during inclement weather and charged a higher rate to go to the more remote sections of Secaucus. “We have to make sure they charge the same rate all the time, no matter what the weather is,” he said.
Officials would not comment on the status of Access’ lawsuit.