Taxicab Wheelchair Accessibility

Published: February 28, 2014

Cities throughout the United States are taking measures to make their taxicab fleets more wheelchair-accessible. While it's true that this change is due at least in part to civil litigation, it's also true that municipalities are beginning to recognize the need to address the concerns of all of its citizens – and not just able-bodied ones. After all, disabled and able-bodied individuals alike enjoy equal protection under the law.

One of the cities on the cusp of this change is New York (perhaps not surprising given the predominance of taxicabs in New York City). After the recent resolution of several lawsuits, the city is now on track to ensure that 50 percent of its taxicab fleet of 13,000 vehicles is wheelchair-accessible by 2020.

The Need for Wheelchair-accessible Taxicabs – It's the Law

The Americans with Disabilities Act, enacted by Congress in 1990, was developed with the goal of providing equal protection under the law for disabled individuals. These protections extend to:

• Employment
• Public entities and transportation
• Public accommodations and commercial facilities
• Telecommunications

It is the inclusion of equal access to public entities and transportation and public accommodations and commercial facilities that applies to this case. Even though taxicabs are not considered public transportation, they are businesses that count as their primary service the transport and accommodation of the public. As such, they are obligated to abide by the same rules that govern other entities that serve the public. And yet, far too few taxicab services are adequately equipped to handle disabled individuals.

As a result of this inadequacy, many individuals have brought law suits against municipalities and taxicab companies throughout the country. New York has chosen to address this concern by taking steps to make certain one out of every two taxicabs in the city is equipped for disabled persons. What this means for the disabled or wheelchair-bound individual is that he or she will have greater freedom of mobility, and enjoy greater equality under the law.

Making Strides to Protect Our Rights

Though there's still much work to be done, the rights of disabled and wheelchair-bound individuals seem to enjoy greater protection with each passing year. I think everyone within the community can see the benefits of a city like New York taking such measures to accommodate disabled persons. With such measures in place, taxicab wheelchair accessibility will soon be the norm, rather than the exception. And at Precision Repair Network, that is something we can get behind!