New York City’s Taxi & Limousine Commission has launched its new dispatch system for riders who use mobility devices. The accessibility of NYC cabs has been a hotly contested issue since December 2011 when afederal judge ruled that New York City’s taxi fleet had violated the Americans With Disabilities Act. However, a Federal Court of Appealsoverturned that ruling on June 29th, 2012. Riders with mobility disabilities in New York City will not be seeing an increase in the number of accessible taxis or the creation of street hailing for accessible cabs, but they will be able to use a new dispatch service for accessible taxis.
On April 3rd, officials in New York City unveiled the “Taxi of Tomorrow,” which is scheduled to replaces all existing cabs in the Big Apple. The “Taxis of Tomorrow” does contain some accessibility features geared towards helping people with vision or hearing impairments, including braille writing identifying the name of the cab’s driver and a hearing loop system and driver and passenger intercom system. Unfortunately, the standard model does not come with a built in ramp for people using mobility devices like wheelchairs.
The “Taxis of Tomorrow” can be converted into an accessible van, with the addition of a ramp that unfolds from the back of the vehicle. By some estimates, the ramp might add up to $12,000 to the price of each taxi.
Currently, only 233 of the more than 13,000 taxis in New York City are accessible. That’s fewer than 2 percent. Late last year a federal judge ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission for violating the ADA. Judge George Daniels ruled that the commission could only provide taxi medallions for wheelchair-accessible vehicles until it establishes a plan to provide access people who use mobility devices. Since then the commission has since been granted a stay pending an appeal scheduled for April 19th.
Groups like “Taxis for All” are protesting the new taxi design, pointing out that vehicles with built-in accessibility options already exist (like the MV-1 van) and that true equality requires that all taxis be fully accessible, rather than requiring people with disabilities to contact taxis dispatches rather than being able to hail any cab from the street.
Universal Design (UD) is an approach to design that increases the potential for developing a better quality of life for a wide range of individuals. It is a design process that enables and empowers a diverse population by improving human performance, health and wellness, and social participation (Steinfeld and Maisel, 2012). It creates products, systems, and environments to be as usable as possible by as many people as possible regardless of age, ability or situation.
