Transportation Access

Outer Borough Taxi Plan with Accessible Medallions On Hold

    Please visit www.ablenews.com for the latest news on taxi accessibility.

    Legislation to allow livery cabs to pick up street hails in the outer boroughs and increase the number of accessible medallions has been stalled.

     The legislation was passed in June but Governor Andrew Cuomo said he will not sign the bill until several issues have been resolved, including wheelchair accessibility.

Senator Harkin Holds Transportation Accessibility Hearing

    U.S. Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, who introduced the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), is weighing in on the accessible taxi debate in New York City.

    Harkin held a hearing called “The Americans with Disabilities Act and Accessible Transportation: Challenges and Opportunities” November 17^th to reflect on recent developments including a class action discrimination lawsuit by the Taxis For All Campaign against the City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC).

    The Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee sponsored the hearing where experts in the field were invited to speak.

Taxi and Limousine Commission Approves Purchase of MV-1

    The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) unanimously approved a regulation change to allow wheelchair users to sit in the front of taxi and livery vehicles, paving the way for the industry to purchase MV-1 vehicles.

    The MV-1, which is manufactured with a ramp at production, is considered more durable than vehicles that are retrofitted to become accessible later.

    Production of the MV-1 began several weeks ago and there is already a back order of 4,000 vehicles, with the first 1,000 sold out. Fred Drasner, chair of the Vehicle Production Group that makes the MV-1 said the company plans to sell 12,000 vehicles next year. The MV-1 sells for about $39,000 and Drasner said the vehicle’s fuel efficiency and natural gas incentives from the government will help offset the cost.

Taxi Accessibility Fight is On the Move

    The fight for taxi accessibility for wheelchair users in New York City is picking up steam. A series of recent events has thrown taxi access into the spotlight and a pending court decision could influence the future of the fleet.

    A class action lawsuit charging the City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) with discrimination is winding its way through the federal court system with a hearing scheduled for November 22 before United States District Judge George B. Daniels of the Southern District of New York.

    Lawyer Julia Pinover of Disability Rights Advocates, the nonprofit legal center representing the plaintiffs said, “It could be a long oral argument. If the judge rules with either party, the lawsuit’s over at the trial stage.”

    [Photo: Jean Ryan and Nadina LaSpina pretend to hail a cab.]

Kellner Offers Taxi Plan Approved by Industry

    Assemblyman Micah Kellner is presenting an alternative proposal to the Taxi and Limousine Commission’s (TLC) Five Borough Taxi Plan that would require all new yellow taxis to be accessible. Kellner’ proposal has support from the taxi industry but the TLC says it is sticking to its own plan, which calls for only partial accessibility of the new fleet.

    Kellner’s Access-for-All Taxi and Livery Plan (A4ATL) seeks to modify the “livery street hail” bill (A8496) that is pending in Albany. That bill was introduced in June and calls for 38 percent of 1,500 new yellow cabs to be accessible. The bill also proposes a task force to represent areas that are underserved by taxis and would issue permits to livery cabs to make outer-borough street pick-ups that are currently illegal.

Taxi Lawsuit Will Go Forward

    A class action lawsuit by disability rights advocates charging the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) with discrimination will go forward, according to a federal judge.

    On May 24, Judge George Daniels refused to dismiss a lawsuit that seeks to force the TLC to make all taxis accessible. The plaintiffs charge that the city’s low number of accessible taxis – less than 300 in a fleet of 13,000 vehicles – violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

City Chooses Nissan for Taxi of Tomorrow

    Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) have chosen a vehicle model that does not accommodate wheelchairs to replace the city’s 13,000 taxis for ten years.

    Bloomberg and TLC Commissioner David Yassky announced the choice of the Nissan NV200 over models designed by the other two finalists, the Karsan V1 and the Ford Transit Connect, at a May 3 press conference. The Karsan vehicle was the only one with wheelchair accessibility built into the design.

City Introduces Taxi Pilot Programs

    In December, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced a pilot program for Access-A-Ride customers to take taxi rides for the price of a paratransit ride, but wheelchair users are not eligible for the program.

    Customers will pay $2.25 for the ride and the MTA will fund the remainder. The trips are expected to cost an average of $15 per trip, compared with $49 for an Access-A-Ride trip. Three-quarters of Access-A-Ride passengers are recorded as not needing a life-equipped vehicle to board.

Disability Rights Groups Sue Taxi & Limousine Commission

    A coalition of disability rights groups filed a class action lawsuit against the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) January 13, charging the commission with “failing to provide yellow taxis that men, women and children who use wheelchairs are able to access.”

    There are more than 13,000 taxis in New York City and only about 240 are accessible. The lawsuit is the first of its kind in the nation.

    The United Spinal Association, the 504 Democratic Club, the Taxis for All Campaign and Disabled In Action filed the lawsuit in Federal District Court in the Southern District of New York. Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), a non-profit law firm that specializes in civil rights for people with disabilities is representing the plaintiffs along with Outten & Golden, a law firm that focuses on employment law.

City Council Questions TLC About Taxi Accessibility

    The New York City Council committees on transportation and disabilities services are proposing a bill that would mandate accessibility in the Taxi & Limousine Commission’s (TLC) “Taxi of Tomorrow.”

    The bill comes just weeks after the TLC and Mayor Michael Bloomberg chose three design finalists in a plan to adopt a single vehicle as the exclusive replacement for the city’s taxi fleet over a period of ten years. City officials say accessibility is a goal but not a requirement for the Taxi of Tomorrow, and only one of three finalists submitted an accessible design (see related story.)