6077746 Taxicab Commission, D.C. - Notice of Proposed Rulemaking - Chapters 10 and 18 - H-Tags Owners Who Surrendered Tags  

  • DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA TAXICAB COMMISSION

     

    NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING

     

    The District of Columbia Taxicab Commission (“Commission”), pursuant to the authority set forth in Sections 8(c)(2), (3), (7), (10), and (19), and 14, 20, and 20j of the District of Columbia Taxicab Commission Establishment Act of 1985 (“Establishment Act”), effective March 25, 1986 (D.C. Law 6-97; D.C. Official Code §§ 50-307(c) (2), (3), (7), (10), and (19), 50-313, 50-319 and 50-329 (2012 Repl. & 2015 Supp.)), hereby gives notice of its intent to adopt amendments to Chapter 10 (Public Vehicles for Hire) and Chapter 18 (Wheelchair Accessible Paratransit Taxicab Service) of Title 31 (Taxicabs and Public Vehicles for Hire) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR). 

      

    This proposed rulemaking would amend Chapters 10 and 18 to provide a new pathway for licensed taxicab operators who lost their DCTC taxicab vehicles licenses when they surrendered their “H” tags to the Department of Motor Vehicles in the period two years prior to and one year after the imposition of the “H tag moratorium.”  See Final Report of the Panel on Industry: Findings and Recommendations on DCTC Policy on the Issuance of New Vehicle Licenses for Taxicabs (The H-Tag Report) (available at:  http://dctaxi.dc.gov/page/panel-industry).  The proposed rulemaking would effectively end the moratorium by allowing these licensed operators – identified in the Report – to establish bona fide bases for the issuance of new vehicle licenses, while also imposing reasonable conditions responsive to the current concerns of passengers and the industry (not those existing when the moratorium was imposed), including (1) purchasing either a wheelchair accessible vehicle two model years old or an electric vehicle, or (2) participating in Transport DC for three years.

     

    The Commission also hereby gives notice of the intent to take final rulemaking action to adopt these proposed rules in not less than thirty (30) days after the publication of this notice of proposed rulemaking in the D.C. Register.  Directions for submitting comments may be found at the end of this notice. 

     

    Chapter 10, PUBLIC VEHICLES FOR HIRE, of Title 31 DCMR, TAXICABS AND PUBLIC VEHICLES FOR HIRE, is amended as follows:

     

    Section 1010, ISSUANCE OF DCTC VEHICLE LICENSES, is amended as follows:

     

    Subsection 1010.20 is amended to read as follows:

     

    1010.20           A new DCTC taxicab vehicle license (and corresponding set of DMV “H” tags) shall be issued to each applicant who meets all the following requirements and all other applicable requirements of this title and other applicable laws and regulations of the District, pursuant to an applicable administrative issuance.

     

                            (a)        The applicant proves to the satisfaction of the Office that:

     

    (1)        The applicant surrendered his or her “H” tags to DMV as follows:

     

                                                    (A)       During the three (3) year period beginning on July 6, 2007, through and including July 6, 2010;

     

                                                    (B)       In good faith compliance with § 506 (taxicab removal from service); and

     

                                                    (C)       For a bona fide reason identified in an administrative issuance, such as a family or personal health need, a unaffordable vehicle failure or accident, a legal obligation, and not merely to engage in other economic or non-economic activity, such as travel or working in another industry; and

     

    (2)        The applicant either:

     

                                                    (A)       Has never made a request to the Office for a new or “returned” DCTC taxicab vehicle license or to DMV for new or “returned” H tags because the applicant reasonably believed the request would have been futile; or

     

                                                    (B)       If the applicant made a request to the Office for a new or “returned” DCTC taxicab vehicle license or to DMV for new or “returned” H tags, the applicant did so within the twelve (12) month period ending on the latest date by which the Office determines that the bona fide reason, identified in subpart (1) (C) of this part, would have no longer have prevented the applicant from operating a taxicab;

     

    (b)        The applicant has possessed a current and valid DCTC taxicab operator’s license continuously and without interruption since at least the earliest date by which the Office determines that the bona fide reason, identified in subpart (1)(C) of this part, would have no longer have prevented the applicant from operating a taxicab, through the date of the application;

     

    (c)        The applicant participates in Transport DC (CAPS-DC) for a period of not less than three (3) years from the date the license is issued, and executes a written a dispatch agreement with a taxicab company participating in Transport DC, during which period the vehicle shall be in continuous active service and available for dispatch in accordance with all of the applicable operating requirements of § 1806;

     

    (d)       The applicant uses the DCTC taxicab vehicle license to operate vehicles as follows, which the applicant shall acknowledge in writing:

     

                                        (1)        At the time the license is issued, the applicant shall place into service a new electric vehicle;

     

                                        (2)        At the time the license is issued, the applicant shall place into service, notwithstanding any contrary provision of § 609 or Chapter 18, a wheelchair accessible vehicle not more than two (2) model years older than the current calendar year, or such earlier model year, as the Office may establish in an administrative issuance; or

     

                                        (3)        At the time the license is issued, the applicant shall place into service any vehicle which complies with § 609.7, provided however, that when the applicant has completed three thousand (3,000) Transport DC trips among any number of vehicles, the applicant shall purchase and place into service a new wheelchair accessible vehicle.

     

                            (e)        If the applicant is not a District resident, the applicant shall form and maintain an independent vehicle business, if such a business is then authorized by the provisions of this title, in order to comply with the DMV requirements for registering the vehicle in the District;

     

                            (f)        The Office shall deny the application of an applicant who, in connection with an application under this subsection, makes a written or oral material misrepresentation to the Office or who fails to cooperate fully with the Office. “Cooperate” means timely and fully answer the Office’s questions and timely provide additional information and documentation required by the Office;

     

                            (g)        The Office shall make a decision to grant or deny an application within twenty one (21) calendar days of the date on which the application is filed, provided however, that the failure to comply with this deadline shall not be a ground for the issuance of any DCTC license to any person; and

     

     (h)       A license issued under this subsection shall be subject to suspension or revocation if, at any time or for any reason, the vehicle or applicant fails to comply with the provisions of subparts (c), (d), (e), or (f) (only as to written or oral material misrepresentations, not for lack of cooperation).

     

    Chapter 18, WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE PARATRANSIT TAXICAB SERVICE, is amended as follows:

     

    Section 1806, TAXICAB COMPANIES AND OPERATORS – OPERATING REQUIREMENTS, is amended as follows:

     

    Subsection 1806.8, is amended to read as follows:

     

    1806.8             Each company shall maintain with the Office a current and accurate inventory of all active operators and vehicles approved for and providing CAPS-DC service, including all vehicles associated with the company pursuant to a dispatch agreement under § 505.11 or § 1010.17, updated in such manner and at such times as determined by the Office, with the following information:

     

                            (a)        For each operator: name, cellular telephone number, DCTC operator’s license number, and an indication of whether the operator has completed the wheelchair service training pursuant to § 1806.6, and, if so, the date of completion; and 

     

                            (b)        For each vehicle:  year, make, model, color, PVIN, tag number, and an indication of whether the vehicle is wheelchair accessible.

     

     

    Copies of this proposed rulemaking can be obtained at www.dcregs.dc.gov or by contacting the Secretary to the Commission, District of Columbia Taxicab Commission, 2235 Shannon Place, S.E., Suite 3001, Washington, D.C. 20020. All persons desiring to file comments on the proposed rulemaking action should submit written comments via e-mail to dctc@dc.gov or by mail to the D.C. Taxicab Commission, 2235 Shannon Place, S.E., Suite 3001, Washington, D.C. 20020, Attn: Secretary to the Commission, no later than thirty (30) days after the publication of this notice in the D.C. Register.