New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) has been unable to meet the requirement of having 50% of active taxis be wheelchair-accessible vehicles, despite years of negotiations. A recent federal court ruling has ordered that all new taxis in New York City must be wheelchair-accessible until TLC meets the negotiated standard.
According to the court decision obtained by our publication, Federal Judge George Daniels of the Southern District of New York issued a ruling on August 29, requiring TLC to abandon the practice of only requiring 50% of new taxis to be wheelchair-accessible and instead mandate that all newly registered or updated license plates must be for wheelchair-accessible vehicles. Judge Daniels stated in the ruling that TLC “failed to meet the necessary standards to raise an impossibility defense” and “has not taken visible steps within its means to fulfill contractual obligations.”
Judge Daniels emphasized that TLC needs to “immediately take all necessary steps to adjust the current 50% (wheelchair-accessible vehicles) rule to 100% until the target number of valid licenses issued by the authorities is met.”
Earlier this year, the “Taxi For All Campaign,” an advocacy group for the rights of disabled individuals using taxis, sued TLC for failing to meet an agreement reached by both parties as far back as 2014. By January 2020, it was agreed that 50% of taxis should be wheelchair-accessible. As of June 30, 2023, only 32% of licensed taxis in New York City were wheelchair-accessible, as stated in the court ruling.
The lawsuit was initiated in 2011, and despite the agreement reached between the “Taxi For All Campaign” and TLC in 2014, TLC has not effectively enforced it. It was not until May 7 of this year that the Southern District Federal Court of New York conducted oral arguments concerning the case, during which TLC was requested to enforce the provision that 100% of new license plates should be for wheelchair-accessible vehicles to comply with the agreement. TLC raised a legal defense of impossibility, but the court rejected it as TLC had not taken concrete actions and did not face economic hardship.
One of the participating organizations of the “Taxi For All Campaign,” the Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled, Executive Director Joe Rappaport, stated in a response to the Epoch Times letter on September 3, saying, “The court’s ruling means that TLC must now require all newly deployed yellow taxis to accommodate wheelchair access until 50% of taxis are accessible for wheelchair users to embark and disembark.”
“In essence, the ‘Taxi For All Campaign’ supports a 100% wheelchair-accessible fleet, but this (court) mandate means that New York City must ultimately fulfill the requirement of 50% (wheelchair-accessible taxis) agreed upon in 2013,” Rappaport wrote.
As reported by the New York Daily News on August 30, TLC Commissioner David Do stated that they will comply with the judge’s ruling and emphasized that TLC’s commitment to wheelchair-accessible vehicles is unwavering. “We will swiftly take action and propose regulations that reflect Judge Daniels’ ruling,” he told the media.