We believe New York City should stop discriminating against its own citizens and visitors who use wheelchairs and start requiring all taxis to be accessible.   

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District recently wrote that “The TLC’s operation of New York City’s taxicabs violates Title II of the ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act]” and called on a federal judge to rule in favor of wheelchair users who have sued to get accessible cabs.  It's time New York obeys the law and does what London accomplished starting in 1989: ensure that everyone can take a taxi by making sure every cab has a ramp and other accessible features. 

Right now, only one in 57 yellow taxis is accessible (231 out of 13,237) and only one in 1,565 (23 out of 35,995) livery vehicles are accessible, according to the city’s own data. No wonder two former Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) chairs wrote Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Cuomo recently, calling the lack of progress toward accessibility “shameful.”   

Instead of making taxis accessible, Mayor Bloomberg and his TLC selected a non-accessible as its “Taxi of Tomorrow” in spring 2011 – for use until the early 2020s. They also propose a separate and unequal system that would require wheelchair users to call in for a taxi that could arrive an hour or more later. That’s not fair or legal.

The right to travel freely is a civil right – and New York City must guarantee this right to all.