Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 815 - Division of Public Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 50 - Common Carriers › Subchapter 10 - Motor Carriers of Passengers › Part 2 - Rules Governing Transportation of Passengers via Taxicabs and Limited Public Motor Vehicles (815-RICR-50-10-2) › Section 815-RICR-50-10-2.1 - Definitions

Current through June 14, 2024
A. Terms used herein shall be construed as
				  follows unless another meaning is expressed or is clearly apparent from the
				  language or content.
1. "Administrator" means
				  the Administrator of the Division of Public Utilities & Carriers or his
				  duly appointed designee.
2.
				  "Business address" means the location where the certificate holder stores the
				  taxicabs authorized under the certificate, at which all records concerning the
				  taxicab business are kept and available for Division inspection and where the
				  drivers report to obtain a vehicle for use as a cab.
3. "Business day" means each and every day on
				  which the Division of Public Utilities and Carriers is open for business.
				  Business day does not include any day that is a Saturday, Sunday or legal
				  holiday.
4. "Cab" means taxicab or
				  limited public motor vehicle.
5.
				  Call and Demand" means the solicitation or acceptance of a fare occurring only
				  within the location specified in the certificate; provided, that the vehicle's
				  driver may, if and when solicited on the public highway at any location at
				  which he or she is discharging a passenger, which location is not shown in the
				  certificate, provide transportation from the location only to a place named in
				  the certificate. This definition shall not exclude a pre-arranged round trip
				  requested by the passenger so long as all the following conditions are
				  satisfied:
a. The round trip must begin in
				  the certificate holder's authorized territory;
b. The round trip must be completed within a
				  24-hour period;
c. When a passenger
				  requests a round trip, the driver shall make a notation on his log sheet next
				  to the record of that initial trip, indicating the passenger's name and the
				  time at which the driver is to return to retrieve the passenger for the
				  pre-arranged return leg of the round trip;
d. The driver must give a passenger
				  requesting a round trip a receipt, to be called a "round trip confirmation
				  receipt", at the completion of the first leg of the round trip that clearly
				  contains the following information:
(1) the
				  date, time and location of initial drop off,
(2) the cab number,
(3) the passenger's name,
(4) the name and telephone number of the
				  certificated cab company,
(5) the
				  driver's name, and
(6) the time
				  the cab is scheduled to return to complete the round trip service. The driver
				  must retain a copy of this receipt (See Appendix C "Round Trip Confirmation
				  Receipt" §
													2.18   of this Part.);
e. The driver may only retrieve the passenger
				  for such prearranged round trip at the location at which the passenger was
				  originally discharged;
f. In the
				  event that the original driver in such a prearranged round trip is unavailable
				  to retrieve the passenger as arranged, the certificate holder may dispatch a
				  different driver/cab, but the subsequent driver/cab must carry, attached to the
				  driver log, a copy of the "round trip confirmation receipt" described in
				  §
												2.1(A)(5)(D)   of this Partabove. Certificate holders are not mandated to
				  provide round trip services to their customers/passengers. However, if a
				  certificate holder and/or driver agrees to provide a round trip cab service, as
				  evidenced by the issuance of a "round trip confirmation receipt," that
				  certificate holder shall be required to complete the round trip service, unless
				  unable to complete the service for good cause.
6. "Certificate" means a certificate of
				  public convenience and necessity issued to a common carrier.
7. "Common Carriers" means any person who
				  holds himself, herself, or itself out to the general public as engaging in the
				  transportation by motor vehicle of passengers for compensation in a taxicab or
				  in a limited public motor vehicle.
8. "Division" means the Division of Public
				  Utilities and Carriers.
9. "Driver"
				  means any person operating a cab for the purpose of transporting passengers for
				  hire.
10. "Fleet Owner" means a
				  certificate holder who owns and operates more than five taxicabs and/or limited
				  public motor vehicles.
11. "Hackney
				  Operator's License" means a special license, commonly referred to as a "Blue
				  Card," issued by the Division, authorizing the holder thereof to operate a
				  taxicab or limited public motor vehicle upon the highways of the State of Rhode
				  Island and any subdivision thereof.
12. "Limited Public Motor Vehicle" means and
				  includes every motor vehicle for hire, other than a jitney as defined in R.I.
				  Gen. Laws §
											39-13-1 or a taxicab as defined in
				  R.I. Gen. Laws §
											39-14-1, equipped with a taximeter
				  used for transporting members of the general public for compensation only from
				  a designated location on private property to such points as may be directed by
				  the passenger.
13. "Motor Carriers
				  Section" means the Motor Carriers Section, Division of Public Utilities and
				  Carriers.
14. "Out of Service"
				  means and includes a vehicle ordered by the Division and/or State Inspection
				  Facility not to be used as a taxicab. Additionally, the term refers to a
				  taxicab that the certificate holder has removed from service to the
				  public.
15. "Paratransit Services"
				  means flexible transportation services provided on a demand responsive and
				  advance reservation basis, for any destination within the scope of a service
				  program provided by a state, or municipal agency, the fee for which is
				  determined pursuant to a contract between the service provider and the state or
				  municipal agency. Paratransit includes single or group trips or trips made on a
				  recurring basis such as for work, school, medical, nutrition, and sheltered
				  workshops.
16. "Person" means and
				  includes any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, company, association,
				  joint stock association or company and his, her or its lessee, trustee,
				  receiver, assignee or personal representative, and, where the context requires,
				  "driver," as herein defined.
17.
				  "Personal use" means the use of a taxicab for any use not regulated pursuant to
				  R.I. Gen. Laws Title 39.
18. "Rate
				  Card" means a card issued by the Division which is required to be posted in
				  each vehicle that reflects authorized rates, vehicle information, authorized
				  territory, the taximeter's serial number, certificate information and a
				  telephone number for complaints.
19. "Suspension" means an order of the
				  Division, after hearing, requiring that a taxicab or a number of taxicabs
				  operated under a certificate, not be operated as taxicabs for a set period of
				  time.
20. "Taxicab" means and
				  includes every motor vehicle for hire, other than a jitney as defined in R.I.
				  Gen. Laws §
											39-13-1, equipped with a
				  taximeter, used for transporting members of the general public for compensation
				  to any place within this state as may be directed by a passenger on a
				  call-and-demand basis.
21. "Taxicab
				  Stand" means, for the purposes of these rules and regulations, any area
				  designated by a sign posted by a local government or the owner of the property
				  on which the sign is posted, as an area where taxicabs may wait for the purpose
				  of accepting passengers.
22.
				  "Taximeter" means any instrument or device by which the charge for
				  transportation in any taxicab or limited public motor vehicle is mechanically
				  calculated and indicated by means of figures, either for distances traveled or
				  for waiting time, or for both.