Why taxis are regulated and what the words mean

(a) Because the transportation of passengers or property for hire in a taxicab is a vital and integral part of the public transportation system in the County, it shall be supervised, regulated and controlled exclusively pursuant to this chapter. (b) As used in this article, unless the context otherwise requires: “Chief of police” means the chief of police of the County of Hawai‘i or the chief of police’s duly authorized subordinates. “Commission” means the County transportation commission. “Council” means the council of the County of Hawai‘i. “Cruise” or “cruising” means the movement or standing of a taxicab on a public highway or at a public place in the County for the purpose of searching for or soliciting a passenger for hire. “Director” means the director of finance of the County, or the director’s duly authorized subordinates. “Multiple loading” means individuals or groups of individuals, not traveling together, who agree to share a taxicab to destinations in the same area or along the same route, from a common origin. (Multiple loading, when radio dispatched, may be initiated from other than points of common origin.) “Passenger for hire” means a person transported in a taxicab for consideration. “Property for hire” means property transported in a taxicab for consideration. “Road taxi stand” means a space set aside on a public street or County- controlled facility by the council for the exclusive use of taxicabs. “Shared-ride taxi” shall mean a taxicab operating under a public transit program administered by the County of Hawai‘i. “Taxicab” means a vehicle designed to carry not more than eight passengers, operated by a taxicab driver, which is used in the movement of passengers for hire on the public highways and which is directed to a destination by the passenger for hire or on the passenger’s behalf and which operates on call or demand. “Taxicab company” means any person or entity which holds licenses for one or more taxicabs, leases motor vehicles to drivers to be used as taxicabs, or which operates a central dispatch service for one or more taxicabs. “Taxicab driver” means a person duly licensed as a driver of a motor vehicle who has obtained a valid taxicab driver’s permit. “Waiting time” means the period during which a taxicab is standing at the direction of or on behalf of a passenger for hire and the time consumed due to traffic delays while transporting a passenger for hire, which time is automatically computed by the taximeter when the speed of the vehicle falls at or below the speed at which the fare computed using the basic distance rate is equal to the fare computed using the basic time rate.