City and County of Denver v. Thrailkill

It is not disputed that this system of taxicab operation was firmly established in Denver for many years prior to 1947 when Ordinance No. 165, Series of 1947, was adopted by the city council. This ordinance was a licensing and regulatory measure under the terms of which driver-owner system taxicabs, as well as company owned employee driven cabs, continued to operate in Denver. It provided for the issuance of master licenses, and under said provision such licenses were issued to the corporate plaintiffs as well as to the companies which owned their cars and employed drivers. It also provided for the issuance of licenses to drivers of taxicabs; for the suspension, revocation and renewal of licenses; and imposed reasonable and necessary restrictions upon the use of taxicabs within the city; all within the unquestioned power of the city council to subject the operation of taxicabs to reasonable regulation in the exercise of the police power.