Despite a new law requiring new accessible cabs, and in face of a civil action calling attention to the problem, New York City has yet to make available taxis for all.
On April 16 and 23, the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) opened some 664 bids for a total of 300 new yellow taxi medallions being auctioned by the city.
A law passed by the City Council last year required the TLC to set aside 9%, or 27, of these medallions as restricted to wheelchair accessible taxi vehicles; however, this law further stated that if the bids on medallions for accessible cabs were less than 90% of the average of the bids for unrestricted medallions, then the medallions set aside for wheelchair accessible vehicles would revert back to being unrestricted medallions.
That is exactly what happened. On April 16, bids for 174 medallions from corporations (medallion and/or fleet owners) were accepted. The average successful bid for a single medallion worked out to slightly more than $344,000, or about $80,000 per medallion more than what the city council had anticipated.
Ligia Lopez demonstrates the impossibility of getting her power chair into a typical New York City cab. Only five cabs in the city can accommodate riders like Lopez.
There was one corporation that submitted six bids for the restricted medallions for wheelchair accessible cabs. Had these bids been successful, they would have resulted in 12 accessible taxis, since corporations are required to submit bids for two medallions at one time. Unfortunately, they were much less than 90% of the average successful bid, so they were not winning bids.
On April 23, 126 more new medallions were sold at a second bid opening for individuals, but at this part of the medallion auction, there were no bids whatsoever for the restricted accessible vehicle medallions.
The grand total is 300 new yellow taxi medallions sold, and not one new wheelchair accessible taxi vehicle will be added to service on the streets of New York as a result of this sale.
The Struggle Continues
Shall we throw in the towel on the accessible cab issue? We think not. A few new approaches are already underway.
First, several days after the initial part of the medallion sale, when it became clear that no new accessible taxis would result from it, we were invited to a meeting with Council Member John Liu, Chairman of the Transportation Committee, which took place on April 26. Mr. Liu has agreed to work with the disability community and he has asked us to draft a new bill about accessible taxis. As I write this article, a short and simple accessible taxi proposal, which would essentially require access only when new cabs are placed into service, has been drafted and sent along to Mr. Liu and to Council Member Margarita Lopez, Chairwoman of the Disability Services Committee.
Ms. Lopez has played an important role in the accessible taxi issue over the past nine months or so. She was irate at the 9% law, at one point calling it “a token gesture” to the disability community from the Mayor and the Council Speaker. Ms. Lopez took action, introducing a bill to require all the medallions sold to be placed on accessible cabs, and to require accessibility when cabs are replaced. Although there were 38 of 51 Council Members sponsoring Ms. Lopez’ bill right before the medallion bids were opened, the Transportation Committee never even held a hearing on her bill.
We don’t have a reaction to our new proposed bill from these two Council Members yet, but we anticipate a response soon. We plan to remain in regular contact with Council Members Liu and Lopez, and we also hope to meet with Council Speaker Gifford Miller and NYC Department of Transportation head Iris Weinshall, two more important players in the accessible cab issue.
Roll-in for Access
A second aspect of our new strategy is to heighten public awareness about the city selling new taxi medallions without requiring them to be on accessible cabs. On Thursday, April 22, we participated in a “roll-in” at a cabstand on 7th Avenue directly in front of Penn Station. What’s a roll-in? There is a taxi dispatcher at this location, so about one dozen of us who use wheelchairs got in the taxi line and when it was our turn to get in a cab, it was an inaccessible sedan, SUV, or minivan. Of course, the television cameras were rolling and the newspaper photographers were snapping away. Stories about the roll-in appeared on three local television stations, three radio stations, and thanks to the Associated Press wire service, in Newsday, The New York Post, and even as far away as a Rochester daily newspaper.
We plan on holding a few more roll-ins in the months ahead in strategic New York City neighborhoods.
A third strategy change is to work hard to expand our base of support. Right now, we would say that seven other disability groups participate actively with United Spinal Association in the Taxis For All Campaign coalition. We have also enjoyed the assistance of former NYC TLC Chairperson Diane McGrath-McKechnie. But to put it simply, we need the active involvement of more city disability organizations as well as non-disability entities that are concerned about transportation and environmental issues.
For instance, we have already captured the support of a taxicab drivers association called the Taxi Workers Alliance. A representative of this federation was present at our April 22 Penn Station roll-in. This group worked extremely hard to achieve a reasonable taxi fare increase for its members and other cab drivers. Their backing could help us achieve our goal.
In some ways, the taxi industry in this city got its way in the recent medallion sale, since there was no expansion of accessible service. On the other hand, they may have awakened a sleeping dog. The initial anger from the failure of the 9% law to result in any new wheelchair accessible cabs has re-energized the resolve of the disability community to achieve our goal through a different strategy that keeps this issue before the public eye while we try to expand our base of support.
Terry Moakley, who chairs the Taxis for All Campaign, is Associate Executive Director for Communications and Public Affairs.
