Cab Companies Given Fines, Told to Get Town License

There are no licensed cab companies in Danvers and on Tuesday night cabs operating in Danvers were given a $100 fine for picking up a fare in town, reports the Salem News.

The cabs were called to the Liberty Tree Mall and when they arrived to pick up a passenger were given a $100 fine, the News said.

"We were told if they see us in Danvers, we would be pulled over and be fined again,” the general manager of North Shore Taxi in Peabody Sean McKinnon told the paper.

While any taxi companies can drop off fares in town, a license is needed to pick up in Danvers.

The sting occurred after concern was raised with Police Chief Neil Oullette earlier this month by the Board of Selectmen.

After a bylaw change in 2009, town officials got several inquiries from cab companies but none applied for a license, Oullette told the Selectmen when the board raised concern earlier this month about the lack of licensed taxi operators in town.

The problem? The bylaws required $1 million worth of liability coverage for passengers, which taxi companies called "exorbidiantly" high.

But Selectman Keith Lucy said Danvers Babe Ruth needed $1 million of liability coverage to get a field permit and "it's not that expensive," noting it may be pricier for a taxi company.

He said that it is the "first $100,000" that is often the most costly with insurance and that even if the town were to drop it to $100,000 some companies may find it to be too expensive.

Selectman Dan Bennett said it was brought to his attention by a businessperson in town who showed him a classified ad for a taxi company with a Danvers number advertising a "low fee" to Logan Airport. But there are no licensed cab companies in the town, he said.

"This company, to my thinking, is  operating illegally in Danvers," Bennett said.

The town's bylaw regulating taxis needs changes, said Selectman Gardner Trask, noting that it was unclear whether police or the zoning enforcement officer handle enforcement.

If the town has a good bylaw regulating taxis it needs to be enforced, Selectmen Michael Powers said.

Oullette told Selectmen that: "We have the authority to enforce it."

And on Tuesday that is what the police did, according to the Salem News report. Oullette told Selectmen that police had run a previous "sting" where a warning was handed out.

The fine is a civil infraction but if the company continues to make pickups in Danvers without a license they could be subject to arrest, Oullette said.

The bylaw applies to cabs and some taxis look like cabs but operate with a livery license plate. Those are livery services and not cabs, Oullette said, noting the state Registry of Motor Vehicles does not have a tight control on the situation.

Enforcement of the town bylaw raises an interesting question if it means nobody can be picked up by a cab in Danvers.

"People need cabs and is it our intention to ban them from the town of Danvers?" asked Bennett.