The United Spinal Association and two bus riders filed a lawsuit charging the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) with discriminating against people with disabilities by providing transit service along cancelled bus routes that is not accessible to people with disabilities.
The lawsuit, filed November 9 in federal court for the Eastern District of New York, says the TLC is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by providing private, livery van service along selected former bus routes that were discontinued by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in June 2010. The ADA requires the provision of public transit to people with disabilities.
The MTA eliminated 23 bus routes in response to an $800 million budget deficit, while promising to continue meeting the requirements of the ADA. All City buses are accessible, but the vans running in their place are not.
The TLC, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn launched the group ride pilot program to provide van service along some of the former routes in September.
“By providing service in areas affected by the MTA bus cuts, we’re offering an alternative to some of the more than 10,000 riders hit by the bus route eliminations,” the mayor said when the program began.
The vans serve specific drop-off and pick-up locations, operating either with a schedule or on demand.
Attorney Robert Stulberg of Broach & Stulberg, LLP, represents the plaintiffs.
“This ill-conceived program literally passes by the disabled. This is the latest slap in the face of New Yorkers who use wheelchairs and depend on public transportation,” Stulberg said.
“As the population ages, loss of bus routes, restricted Access-A-Ride eligibility and lack of access to subways for people with mobility impairments, will continue to impact more and more New Yorkers,” he added.
Allan Fromberg, deputy commissioner for public affairs at the TLC, declined to comment on the lawsuit. “It wouldn’t be appropriate to discuss anything in litigation,” he said.
However Fromberg did note that the vans “don’t replace MTA buses. It was not anyone’s plan to replace MTA buses, that would be impossible.”
Paul Tobin, President and CEO of the United Spinal Association, criticized the TLC and the MTA for their allocation of services to people with disabilities.
“The TLC’s failure to require that these ‘group ride’ vans provide transportation for wheelchair users is symptomatic of a larger problem that continues to be ignored by New York City agencies at the expense of the city’s taxpayers; the increase in ongoing, cost prohibitive paratransit services in lieu of providing basic transportation services that meet ADA requirements,” Tobin said.
This article was published in the January 2011 issue of Able News.
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