Taxis for all: NYC must fulfill its pledge to make 50% of yellow taxis wheelchair accessible

We were in Manhattan Federal Judge George Daniels’ courtroom nearly 10 years ago, on Sept. 16, 2014, when he approved a settlement of a 2011 lawsuit against the city Taxi and Limousine Commission for failing to have sufficient wheelchair accessible yellow taxis.

Under the deal, agreed to the previous December under Mayor Mike Bloomberg and formalized under Mayor Bill de Blasio, the percentage of wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAVs) was to climb from 2% of the fleet to 50% of the taxis.

It was the culmination of the Taxis for All campaign of advocates like Edith Prentiss that we heartily supported that began a decade earlier, in 2004. That was when the TLC decided to increase from three yellow WAVs to 30, in a fleet of 12,787. We will do the math for you: the odds of finding a WAV grew from .02% to .2%. Round those tiny and embarrassing figures and both and before the 10-fold expansion, wheelchair users like Edith had a 0% chance to catch a ride, an affront to common decency and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

There had been very slow progress, to 231 WAVs, by time the settlement was negotiated and signed, but under the agreement the TLC was to reach the 50% level by 2020.

It’s now 2024 and the percentage of yellow WAVs is still shy of 1-in-3, far below the halfway mark under the deal Daniels approved a decade ago. The city says that the rise of Uber and Lyft, medallion financing problems (which were caused by the rise of Uber and Lyft) and COVID all imposed problems. We say, a deal is a deal.

In a hearing Tuesday, Daniels gave the city two weeks to produce a plan on how to reach the required 50% threshold.

As Daniels said that day in 2014: “We should not minimize the importance of this historic moment. Decades from now, most will take it for granted. But this is one of the most significant acts of inclusion in this city since Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers. It makes us a better city. It is simply the right thing to do.” This is a civil rights matter. And we don’t backtrack on civil rights. Robinson does not get sent back to the minor leagues. Having a disability is the only protected minority class that anyone can join in an instant. A bad fall can put you in a wheelchair for weeks or even for life.

The city’s lawyer at that 2014 hearing was Michelle Goldberg-Cahn. She was likewise the city’s lawyer this week again. In 2014 she was supporting the 50% plan; now she offers excuses. Yes, people in wheelchairs can use Uber and Lyft, but not everyone has a smartphone. Not everyone wants to pay with a credit card.

How to get more yellow WAVs on the road? The TLC has just extended the life of each WAV before they have to be retired. And there are thousands of yellows that have been mothballed since the onset of COVID. Locate every mothballed WAV and get it back on the street replacing a non-WAV cruising for fares. And find other means to get to the 50%, including a surcharge to help subsidize the more expensive WAVs.

Edith Prentiss died in 2021, otherwise she would be raising hell. Judge Daniels, make the city live up to its promise.