§ 25-4. Ground transportation.
25-4.1
Commercial vehicles.
(a)
Any taxicab licensed pursuant to Section 31-82 of the County Code and operating in compliance with the standards and conditions set forth in Section 31-93(d) of the County Code shall have the right to transport persons and their baggage from Miami International Airport.
(b)
Except for taxicabs as set forth in (a) above, no person shall utilize a vehicle for any commercial activity on the Airport, or transport persons, baggage, or goods or any combination thereof to or from Miami International Airport without a valid permit issued by the Department if the Department has issued an Operational Directive requiring such a permit.
(c)
No person shall operate a vehicle used in commercial activity contrary to posted signs, or contrary to the terms of any permit or Operational Directive issued by the Department.
(d)
Commercial vehicles operating on any Airport contrary to the terms of Operational Directives issued by the Department, or without permits required for such operation, will be subject to enforcement penalties. Violations shall be enforced by authorized law enforcement officers or authorized uniformed traffic enforcement employees of the Department and appropriate fines shall be levied as established by Operational Directives.
(e)
Nothing contained herein shall be construed to authorize the operation of a vehicle for hire or courtesy vehicle in violation of any other provisions of the Code of Metropolitan Dade County, specifically including but not limited to Chapter 31.
(f)
(1)
Effective as of the date that the proposed consolidated Rental Car Facility located east of LeJeune Road to be designed and constructed by the Florida Department of Transportation as set forth in Resolution No. R-1268-99, is operational for the participating car rental companies having agreed to operate therein, all ground transportation courtesy vehicles by which customers of ground transportation companies are transported to or from Miami International Airport and the companies' places of business, shall be prohibited from operating on the lower and upper vehicular drives of such Airport and from picking up and dropping off their customers at any Airport facility or location other than the Rental Car Facility or the Miami Intermodal Center, as designated by Operational Directives. The term "ground transportation courtesy vehicles shall include cars, vans, buses or other forms of vehicular transportation, but shall not include taxis, demand shuttle vans or buses, or for-hire vehicles subject to Chapter 31 of the Miami-Dade County Code. The term "ground transportation companies" include but are not limited to car rental companies, parking lot operators, and hotels and motels.
(2)
Notwithstanding subsection (f)(1), the County Manager may exempt certain ground transportation companies from the prohibition contained in subsection (f)(1) and may permit such companies to pick up and drop off customers at a facility other than the Rental Car Facility or Miami Intermodal Center; provided, however, any such exemption shall be effective only after (a) a public hearing has been held at which all representatives of the ground transportation industry are invited to present their views, (b) the County Manager has determined that the exemption shall not adversely affect traffic congestion, air quality and passenger safety, and (c) such exemption has been set forth in an Administrative Order approved by the Board; provided further that any such exemption shall extend for a period of time and under such conditions as the County Manager determines; and provided further that no exemption from the requirements and restrictions of subsection (f)(1) shall be given under any circumstances to any car rental company.
(3)
The Aviation Director shall have the authority to issue an Operational Directive from time to time for the following purposes:
(a)
To provide for the use of the Terminal Building facilities and roadways by all ground transportation users during the Interim Period from the effective date of this ordinance to the date on which the Rental Car Facility is operational, and during the period thereafter;
(b)
To provide for the date on which the Rental Car Facility is deemed operational for purposes of requiring all ground transportation courtesy vehicles subject to this ordinance and the Operational Directive to access their customers at the Rental Car Facility and not at the Terminal Building or other Airport location;
(c)
To provide for all aspects of a temporary common shuttle vehicle operation between the Terminal Building and the Rental Car Facility by which ground transportation companies and their customers made subject to the Operational Directive make use of and pay for the costs of the common shuttle vehicle operation until the Airport's MIC MIA automated People Mover System is operational. The Operational Directive may permit the participating car rental companies to operate such a shuttle vehicle operation in their own name or names or through a company selected by them or may require selection of a company by the County through appropriate bidding procedures;
(d)
To provide for the use of and payment for the Rental Car Facility, its roadways, and the MIC-MIA People Mover System after the Rental Car Facility and the People Mover System become operational, such Operational Directive to apply to all users of the Rental Car Facility and People Mover system, including the participating car rental companies operating within the Rental Car Facility and all other car rental companies picking up and dropping off their customers at a location or locations outside of the Rental Car Facility as designated by such Operational Directive; and
(e)
To set forth the level of fees required to be paid by those car rental companies choosing to pick up and drop off their customers at the curbside or other designated location of the Rental Car Facility rather than to operate within such facility. Such fees may include a Customer Facility Charge or a percentage of gross revenues, or a combination of both. To the extent such fees are based on a percentage of gross revenues of such companies generated by customers picked up or dropped off at the Rental Car Facility, such fees may be less than but shall not exceed the percentage of gross revenues approved by the Board for car rental companies operating within the said Facility.
(4)
The Operational Directive shall require all car rental companies operating within the Rental Car Facility to charge and collect from their customers, commencing on and after the date on which the Rental Car Facility is operational, a Customer Facility Charge in the amount of not more than four dollars and sixty cents ($4.60) per day per car rental contract, and every fifth anniversary after such commencement date to increase such amount by an additional twenty-five cents ($0.25) per day per car rental contract, such Customer Facility Charge amounts to be further adjusted periodically so as to enable the County to meet all debt service payments on any loans for the acquisition of the property for and the design and construction of the Rental Car Facility, as well as operating and maintenance expenses related to the Rental Car Facility and allocated operating and maintenance expenses attributable to the MIC-MIA people mover system connecting the Rental Car Facility with the Airport's Terminal Building; provided, however, that any such periodic adjustments other than the twenty-five cent ($0.25) adjustment every five years shall be presented to the Board of County Commissioners for its review and approval, such adjustments to be approved if they are in accordance with the requirements of the Concession Agreement between the County and the participating car rental companies, the TIFIA Loan Agreement, and the determinations of anticipated debt service payments, operating and maintenance expenses of the RCF, and allocated expenses of the people mover system made thereunder.
(5)
The Operational Directive shall require that, (a) commencing no earlier than January 1, 2002, and expiring no later than the effective date of this Ordinance, all car rental companies operating at Miami International Airport that have agreed to serve as participating car rental companies in the Rental Car Facility shall charge and collect from their customers a Customer Facility Charge not to exceed three dollars and twenty-five cents ($3.25) per day per car rental contract, and (b) commencing as of the effective date of this Ordinance and expiring no later than the date the Customer Facility Charge under subsection (4) is effective, all such car rental companies shall charge and collect from their customers a Customer Facility Charge of four dollars ($4.00) per day per car rental contract, with such charges described in (a) and (b) of this subsection to be in addition to all other fees established by contract or Operational Directive, and with such interim Customer Facility Charges to be determined or confirmed by the Aviation Department and set forth in the Operational Directive, for the purpose of defraying ongoing costs applicable to the design and construction of the Rental Car Facility as well as existing costs to the Airport of providing facilities and services to such companies prior to the date on which the Rental Car Facility becomes operational and as additional payment for the companies' privilege of doing business at the Airport. The Operational Directive or contractual provision shall provide that, as to any such fees and to the extent permissible under federal law and any trust indenture applicable to the Airport, such fees shall be held by the Airport in a separate interest-bearing account for the purpose of defraying the costs of the Rental Car Facility.
(6)
Except as provided in (4) and (5) above, none of the fees payable for the use of the Rental Car Facility shall be deemed to be fees mandated by the County unless the Operational Directive states that designated fees are so mandated.
(Ord. No. 75-113, § 2, 12-2-75; Ord. No. 79-25, § 15, 3-20-79; Ord. No. 81-85, § 4, 7-21-81; Ord. No. 88-37, §§ 5, 6, 5-3-88; Ord. No. 95-41, §§ 67, 68, 3-7-95; Ord. No. 00-87, § 1, 7-6-00; Ord. No. 04-137, § 1, 7-13-04; Ord. No. 07-109, § 1, 7-24-07)
25-4.2
Rental cars. No person shall solicit or engage in the rental car for-hire vehicle business on the Airport without a valid permit issued by the Department. (Ord. No. 75-113, § 2, 12-2-75; Ord. No. 79-25, § 15, 3-20-79; Ord. No. 81-85, § 4, 7-21-81)
Cross reference
Licensing and regulations of for-hire passenger motor vehicles generally, § 31-81 et seq.