(a) The Executive, by method (2) regulation, may approve one or more centralized electronic dispatch systems to dispatch taxicabs for trips that begin in the County through an Internet-enabled application, digital platform, or telephone dispatch system.
(b) Within six months after the approval of the first system, every taxicab driver licensed under this Chapter must use a centralized electronic dispatch system approved under this Section.
(c) A centralized electronic dispatch system approved under this Section must:
(1) offer an Application Programming Interface that allows other approved systems to dispatch all drivers using that system;
(2) dispatch the taxicab closest to the person requesting service, regardless of which system that taxicab is using;
(3) adequately protect the privacy of passengers and the security of passengers and drivers;
(4) allow only licensed taxicab drivers to use the system;
(5) maintain, and make available to the Director upon request, verifiable records, in a form prescribed by the Director, summarizing responses to requests for service made under the system;
(6) provide users with an option to see and request an accessible taxicab; and
(7) be accessible to the blind and visually impaired and the deaf and hard of hearing.
(d) A centralized electronic dispatch system approved under this Section may charge processing fees as allowed by regulation.
(e) Nothing in this Section prohibits a licensee from using or being dispatched by any other two-way dispatch system. (2004 L.M.C., ch. 27, § 1; 2015 L.M.C., ch. 39, § 1.)