Taxis
Wheelchair-accessible cabs increase DC mobility
As of Thursday, DC's residents and visitors with disabilities no longer have to struggle with unreliable Metro elevators or schedule MetroAccess rides 24 hours in advance. Instead, they can take a cab like anybody else.
Photo courtesy of MWCOG
On Thursday morning, MWCOG and the DC Taxi Commission launched rollDC, the District's new accessible cab pilot program. Through a $1 million New Freedom grant from the Federal Transit Administration and a $200,000 match from DCTC, there are now 20 fully wheelchair-accessible Toyota Sienna minivans plying the streets of DC, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All you have to do is call Royal Cab or Yellow Cab of DC and request an accessible cab.
Though the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed two decades ago, taxi cabs were largely exempt from the legislation that required everything from subways to movie theaters to provide a minimum level of accessibility accommodation. While all taxi companies must accommodate those passengers with disabilities who are able to use a regular taxi, including allowing services animals, and requiring drivers to stow mobility devices like walkers and foldable wheelchairs for a customer, the ADA does not require any special accessibility features for all "sedan-type" vehicles.
In 1990, this may have made a significant impact, as the number of people with disabilities using standard, manual wheelchairs was relatively large. Over the past 20 years though, advances in various technologies have increased the availability and usability of powered wheelchairs, which, while improving mobility and independence of the people that use them, have ironically made taxi service less accessible.
As the ADA was written, taxi companies are not required to modify their vehicles to accommodate passengers in wheelchairs until the companies purchased or leased a van or an SUV for its fleet. Once a taxi operator's fleet included at least one non-sedan vehicle, though, ADA requirements for full wheelchair accessibility kick in.
Unfortunately, this has provided a strong disincentive in many places for taxi companies to have any cabs that aren't sedans, which has been the case in DC. This is where the New Freedom program helps. Under this FTA program, states and metro regions receive a designated amount of money each year to provide transportation service or accommodations "above and beyond" what the ADA requires.
Because the economics of the DC taxi market had not made having large minivan or SUV cabs financially attractive enough to also comply with ADA requirements for fully accessible services, MWCOG designated a portion of the Washington region's New Freedom money to start the rollDC program.
Photo courtesy of MWCOG
This new program has the potential to provide significant, two-fold impact on DC's transportation system. First, it will greatly increase the flexibility and mobility option of the city's residents and visitors who use wheelchairs. This is by far the most important outcome.
Less crucial to the human impact, but intriguing given Metro and DC's current budget crises, rollDC increases the ability of MetroAccess to provide ADA complementary paratransit through contracts with private taxi providers instead of through its costly, standard scheduled service.
Many paratransit providers, inlucluding MetroAccess, already use taxis to provide some service, but frequently this is limited to ambulatory customers who have other types of disabilities. With the introduction of accessible taxi cabs, MetroAccess now has the option to provide rides for nearly any eligible customer through taxi service, either through a voucher program, or through direct contract.
A typical MetroAccess trip with raised-roof or cut-away van costs Metro around $40. Many trips within DC and its immediate surroundings could be easily provided by taxi for a cost savings per trip. Additionally, by instituting a voucher program, MetroAccess could potentially give customers more flexibility than the current 24-hour advance scheduling rules allow.
With only 20 vans on the street, the ability for MetroAccess to realize significant savings through taxi-provided paratransit is still relatively low, but ridership numbers from the test phase run over the last year, indicate that there will likely be demand for more vehicles. In March of this year the vans on the street provided 349 trips.
These new cabs don't benefit people with disabilities alone. The presence of more large cabs increases the viability of group rides, as well as the ability to live in the city without a car, by making it easier to make shopping trips with bulky items. rollDC will improve mobility options for thousands of DC residents and visitors, disabilities or not. And that is an unequivocally good thing.
 | Erik Weber has been living car-free in the District since 2009. Hailing from the home of the nation's first Urban Growth Boundary, Erik has been interested in transit since spending summers in Germany as a kid where he rode as many buses, trains and streetcars as he could find. Views expressed here are Erik's alone.    |
Comments
- Latest Metro map drafts add Anacostia parks and other tweaks
- Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition
- Short-term Washingtonians deserve a voice, too
- DC Council makes major policy changes overnight
- Public land deals have both benefits and pitfalls
- Judge denies injunction against closing schools
- Parklets give every block a little park
Any disabled person in the city can use these cabs. Does that mean that the District ponies up the $2 to the cabbie for every disabled person to ride in their cab, or just the ones currently registered under MetroAccess?
by freely on May 16, 2011 1:54 pm • link • report
DC's taxis are among the worst I've had the 'pleasure' of hailing, both domestically and internationally (including many 3rd world countries). The pricing scheme in NYC should be adopted here to help avoid the daily, sometimes non-existent, upcharges taxi drivers add (for example, luggage in the trunk -- only large luggage qualifies for the surcharge, but 9 out of 10 drivers automatically add it on, regardless of size). Getting rid of these (often random) surcharges would help. Two other suggestions (beyond the 'large luggage in trunk' charge, are: the gas-prices-are-high surcharge and the 'additional passenger' surchage.
by Mase on May 16, 2011 2:15 pm • link • report
20 vans were purchsed via government money, then given - completely free - to private companies.
These 2 private companies, after receiving these free vans, will also receive extra subsidies for picking up disabled riders.
Are these 2 cab companies now required to comply with the ADA requirements... or as they did not purchase or lease these vehicles... are they still exempt?
What is the contractual obligation of the 2 private cab companies? Who will be monitoring these cabs to ensure that their first focus is para-transport?
by greent on May 16, 2011 2:20 pm • link • report
The New Freedom funds used to purchase these accessible cabs are Federal funds for "above and beyond the ADA." For example, accessible cabs make it possible for people who use motorized wheelchairs or scooters to pay for a private taxi ride much like you or I would pay for a private taxi ride. It's not paratransit. It's another accessible transportation option for them, and because it's an immediate, on-demand type option (unlike paratransit), it's a good choice to have.
In fact, when you don't have accessible cabs in a community, that forces people who use motorized mobility devices who are unable to use the fixed-route to use paratransit all the time (even when they would prefer to pay for a non-subsidized cab ride from time to time). So, accessible cabs are a win-win: more choice with the possibility of reducing paratransit usage in some cases.
Private taxicab service is covered by Title III of the ADA, whereas ADA complementary paratransit service is covered by Title II of the ADA. The vehicle requirements are very different, and much stricter for transit providers under Title II than for taxi operators under Title III. Erik does a nice job of explaining this.
However, to complicate matters, purchasing accessible vehicles is much more costly for private providers than purchasing a used Crown Vic (which most of the cabs in DC and around the nation are). So that's why communities like DC are using New Freedom funds to purchase accessible vehicles to give to these providers. There might not be accessible cabs out there otherwise.
Other incentive programs for taxi operators to purchase accessible vehicles are used in cities where the number of licenses are strictly limited and cost a lot of money, but that's another story. In DC, almost anyone can become a cab driver and it's not costly, from what I understand, to get a license and get started (at least not with a used Crown Vic).
And, to address another comment, it would be illegal (against the ADA) for a taxi provider to charge a person with a disability a higher fare than a person who doesn't have a disability.
Sorry for such a long comment. I recommend the following free resource to answer some of the lingering ADA questions about taxi service and the ADA:
https://secure2.convio.net/es/site/Ecommerce?VIEW_PRODUCT=true&product_id=4661&store_id=9663&JServSessionIdr004=hwctfdiv82.app240b
by Penny Everline on May 16, 2011 4:20 pm • link • report
by ontarioroader on May 16, 2011 11:25 pm • link • report
@Mase As mentioned, the $2 fee is not charged to the riders, but is billed to the rollDC program. Therefore it would be pretty easy to tell if a driver is trying to add the surcharge to rides in non-accessible vehicles.
@greent I believe that Royal DC and Yellow Cab now have to comply with full ADA regulations. Of course with 10 accessible cabs, they basically are since the ADA says that if you have any non-sedans, you have to provide "equivalent service" to people with disabilities..
@ontarioroader DCTC didn't get $1 million. MWCOG got $1 million, took an additional $200,000 contribution from DCTC and purchased the accessible vehicles. I agree, though that the DC taxi industry needs some serious help. Hopefully the additional training these drivers were given will help them handle all customers in a friendly way.
Penny's comment is an excellent elaboration on some of these points. I agree that the Easter Seals Project ACTION resource she links to is excellent for anyone wanting to understand more about the issue.
by Erik Weber on May 17, 2011 9:05 am • link • report
by Cinda Hughes on Jun 3, 2011 3:16 am • link • report
Add a Comment