New York is a city of icons. And what is more iconic than the Yellow Cab? This vehicle that evokes trips through Manhattan for so many people holds a particular significance to wheelchair users like me. I love traveling to New York City because, at last, I know I can hail an accessible taxi or rideshare vehicle. Even Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., can’t quite compare.
For a moment, far from home, I am equal.
For me, home is Atlanta. I love to show everyone in my life tremendous hospitality when they come to town. My adopted hometown makes it difficult when it comes to members of the disability community. Recently, I tried to help make arrangements for Ian Ruder, Editor-in-Chief of New Mobility, to visit from Portland. Ian is a superb journalist, editor, and peerless community representative. It “took a village” to cobble together a way for him merely to leave the airport. There are no straightforward ways to transport people living with quadriplegia around a city with the size and stature of Atlanta. Now think about people with mobility disabilities who lack the institutional and personal support Ian possesses trying to navigate these problems.
As a longtime employment advocate for people with disabilities, accessible transportation has always confounded me. How can society fully leverage the talent of professionals like Ian, whom any publication or organization would be proud to have, if he can’t make it past the airport or Amtrak station when venturing away from Portland?
We Won Taxi Accessibility Just in Time for the Rise of Rideshare
Wheelchair users travel, work and recreate just like everyone else. But after over 50 years of concerted activism and advocacy, public transportation still feels so out of reach.
New York is the exception. Members of Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association, United Spinal’s predecessor, established a playing field that favored our community more than in other cities, thanks to our long fight around accessible buses and train stations. However, despite more favorable circumstances, it took United Spinal advocates 17 years of organizing with a coalition called Taxis4All before we got our first win.
The Americans with Disabilities Act exempts taxis from its provisions around public transportation. There is no clear path to victory for an advocate working on this issue. We had the good fortune of making true believers out of the right people in city government, and we were otherwise well-positioned to file a lawsuit backed by popular mobilization. However, our gains were restricted to Yellow Cabs, which turned out to be an endangered species. The era of rideshare has presented new challenges to our movement and the regulatory environment.
Rideshares are everywhere, and the transportation network companies that provide them have forestalled municipal governments from regulating them. It takes action at the state level to require TNCs to provide accessible service. As the national landscape has borne out, they absolutely won’t unless local governments require or financially incentivize them.
New York City froze the number of rideshare vehicles allowed on the road unless accessible service was provided. Therefore, rideshares began providing accessible service with reasonable waiting times. United Spinal settled its lawsuit against Yellow Cabs for 50% accessible service by 2020. After years of rideshare services decimating Yellow Cabs, the total number of cabs has dropped by over 30%, and they are only about 35% accessible. Financial pressures unforeseen by the city government and our advocates had to be balanced with living up to the original settlement agreement. We are negotiating now to update the agreement that settled the dispute to reflect today’s reality.
Accessible Transportation is a Fundamental Right
In many cities, we must fight to establish our fundamental rights to accessible transportation in the present and fight for future riders by campaigning to ensure that autonomous vehicles used in all for-hire services also accommodate our needs. We need to stay abreast of legislative and technological developments to keep up credible pressure and forge informed partnerships with enlightened corporations who want to do what’s best. Through coalitions like United Spinal’s Tech Access Group, we can give authentic feedback on app design and services that can help meet our needs.
New York may not provide an easy model to replicate. Still, it shows us all the kinds of grassroots action and political savvy necessary to win equality on the road.
