Taxi medallion owners, disability advocates call for wheelchair accessible mandate for Uber

Rousing the crowd with chants of “Don’t rip us off” and “Treat us fair,” dozens of taxi drivers and disability advocates demanded that a mandate requiring half of yellow cab fleets to be wheelchair-accessible by 2020 be extended to Uber, Lyft and other e-hail services.

From the steps of City Hall on Wednesday, advocates argued that Uber’s entrance into the market threatened the traditional taxi industry and punctured a long-fought and litigated agreement to eventually make half of yellow and green taxis wheelchair accessible. Drivers contended the newer competitors’ exclusion from the rules was another example of how e-hail companies avoid many of the regulations imposed on the struggling taxi industry.

“We thought we had this fight won,” United Spinal Association CEO Jim Weisman said. “We got 50 percent of a fleet that’s shrinking rapidly because the city won’t protect medallion owners. If we have 50 percent of nothing, we don’t have any access at all.”

Weisman said the government spends about $600 million annually funding Access-A-Ride, the public transportation system’s car service for the physically disabled, and that this could be dramatically reduced by ensuring a larger portion of Uber and Lyft cars are able to serve those in wheelchairs. Despite spending two years discussing the matter with Council members, Weisman said his group had not met with Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito or seen the City Council hold a hearing on the issue.

Asked about Weisman’s statements, the speaker’s office said the City Council was developing a system that would incentivize drivers to use wheelchair-accessible cars and better connect them to riders. A number of elected officials offered statements supporting the yellow and green taxi drivers, including Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and City Councilman David Greenfield, and City Councilman Fernando Cabrera stood with the drivers at City Hall.

Attempts to regulate Uber and other e-hail services divided City Hall last summer. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio proposed capping the growth of Uber’s fleet while the city examined whether it was clogging city streets. Amid intense pushback, the city shelved the proposal. At the time, the city officials said Uber agreed to participate in a study of how for-hire vehicles impacted traffic. The research ultimately found Uber was not responsible for increasing traffic in the downtown Manhattan core.

Asked about applying the 50 percent mandate to Uber and Lyft, de Blasio spokesman Austin Finan said the administration remains committed to ensuring accessibility in all sectors of the for-hire vehicle market. Currently, just 847 of 13,587 yellow taxis are wheelchair accessible, while 1,382 of 7,494 green taxis qualify, according to the TLC.

The city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission is developing a proposal to improve accessibility based “very specifically” on the dynamics of the for-hire vehicle sector, which includes black car bases like the ones Uber operates, livery cabs and luxury limousines, according to TLC spokesman Allan Fromberg.

Drivers, some of whom said they paid thousands of dollars for medallions and then watched as Uber drivers coasted into the market for free, were not the only ones complaining about being taken for a ride.

Uber spokeswoman Alix Anfang pointed to an Albany Times Union story that detailed how the group that organized Wednesday’s rally – New Yorkers for Equal Transportation – was essentially subsidized by the Taxi Fleet Management cab company and organized by a consulting firm that represented it.

“The public should be beware that medallion owners’ goal is to protect the value of their medallions, not to improve New York City’s transportation system,” Anfang said in a statement. “Last summer, taxi medallion owners were the first to falsely claim Uber caused congestion, this summer they are paying lobbyists to create sham advocacy organizations that disparage our accessibility option UberWAV, even though it provides 4,000 trips a month.”

UberWAV connects riders with wheelchair-accessible yellow or green taxis. According to Uber, the feature has an average pickup time of 5 to 7 minutes and is used about 4,000 times a month in New York City.

Lyft spokeswoman Chelsea Wilson said the company complies with TLC accessibility regulations and is exploring ways to increase mobility options for the paratransit community.