Assemblymember Victor Pichardo held a press conference today highlighting legislation he authored to improve wheelchair accessibility in New York City’s for-hire taxi and limousine industry by creating a centralized dispatch service for wheelchair-accessible transportation (A.9730). He was joined by Livery Roundtable, New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers, Black Car Assistance Corporation and Prestige Car Service.
“Our city is clearly in need of a better solution to ensure every New Yorker has access to safe, reliable transportation,” said Pichardo. “My legislation addresses provider and customer concerns to help get travelers – including those with wheelchairs – where they need to go.”
Currently, for-hire taxi and limousine companies are penalized for failure to provide wheelchair-accessible transportation when necessary, even if drivers are independently contracted and at liberty to choose their vehicle and hours of service. Rather than benefiting the disabled community, however, the policy has led to repeated burdensome fines that leave little opportunity for improved services.
"The TLC knows we can’t comply with their wheelchair accessibility requirements, but they keep ticketing us anyway. It hurts small businesses and it doesn't help anyone but the city budget. But, now, thanks to Assemblyman Pichardo, we have hope of it being fixed," said Felix Medrano, president, Prestige Car Service, Bronx, NY.
"Years ago the TLC decided that people who use wheelchairs should have access to the same car service as those that don't. That is a wonderful and laudable goal. But, they never bothered to figure out how it could be done. Instead, they created a system where wheelchair users don't get equal access and car service companies get fined for it. Assemblyman Pichardo has proposed a great way to fix this mess and we applaud him and support his efforts," said Avik Kabessa, Founder, Livery Roundtable, CEO, Carmel Car and Limousine.
Pichardo’s legislation seeks to provide a more balanced approach by eliminating the ineffective regulations and creating a centralized dispatch service for wheelchair-accessible transportation controlled by the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC). The new policy would be consistent with those already implemented nationwide.
“By creating a dispatch service for wheelchair-accessible transportation, we can help for-hire taxi and limousine drivers tap into the resources they need to provide quality service to all consumers,” Pichardo said.
