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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.
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 17th 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.
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.
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.]
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.
Nassau County has chosen an operator for Long Island (LI) Bus, taking the next step in its plan to form a private-public relationship to replace the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)’s role in the service.
A panel formed in 2010 to evaluate bids for a public-private partnership with the county has selected Veolia Transportation Inc. to operate LI Bus operations starting next year. The company was chosen from three bids. It is unclear how Able-Ride paratransit service will be affected by the change.
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).
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.
Last month, the New York City Department of Education (DOE) celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of its travel training program, which teaches people with disabilities how to use the New York City transit system.
The event took place at St. Francis College in Brooklyn and included presentations by program leaders, students, parents and advocates.
Peggy Groce, director of travel training at the DOE, presented a Pioneer Award to Jack Gorelick for founding a program for siblings of people with disabilities that is still running at the AHRC, where he worked for forty years. It is the longest running program of its kind in the nation. Gorelick is also a founding member of the National Association for Travel Instruction.
