Public Vehicle Certificates

Print this page

Drivers for Hire

All public vehicles used for the transportation for hire of up to 29 passengers, including the driver, where new fares begin within St. Petersburg City limits, are required to have a public vehicle certificate. City Code Sec. 28-27 This includes taxicabs, vans, limousines and car services, non-public sector buses, non-motorized vehicles, low speed vehicles, and vessels.

City Code

St. Petersburg City Code Chapter 17 and 28 requires each public vehicle and their drivers to comply with and obtain the following:   

City Code Sec. 28-15; each public vehicle owner shall have permanently affixed to the "public vehicle" a valid public vehicle certificate which shall be located on the driver's side of the vehicle on the lateral face of the bumper, trunk lid, or rear window and shall be visible from the exterior of the vehicle. View example image.

There shall be a rebuttable presumption that a public vehicle which does not have a valid certificate affixed to the vehicle is violating this provision.

Every officer, agent, or employee of any corporation, and every other person who violates or fails to comply with or who procures, aids, or abets in the violation of any provision of  City Code shall be guilty of a municipal ordinance violation and may have a penalty enforced upon said person. A person convicted of a violation of this Article shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $500.00. With respect to violations that are continuous, each day the violation continues is a separate offense. City Code Sec. 28-2

Transportation Network Vehicles

A public vehicle is exempt from the certificate requirement if it is an exempt vehicle under Chapter 28. All vehicles claiming transportation network company exemption must show proof that they are operating under a state licensed company as provided by F.S. 627.748.

Please report all enforcement Issues related to Public Vehicle Certificates to the Police non-emergency line at 727-893-7780.

Resources and Applications