Hailing Accessible Taxis

Posted by Jay Leventhal on 5/29/2009 2:35:28 PM

Guest Blogger, Jay Leventhal, Editor in Chief, AccessWorld®

Awhile back, my colleagues wrote about a taxi driver they encountered in Louisville, KY who was helping to make the world a more accessible place for people with vision loss. Jimmy the Taxi Man had braille on the doors of his cab and on his business cards, and was working to get all Louisville cabbies to do the same. It's a shame that not all cabs are accessible not only for those of us with vision loss, but also for people with other disabilities…but there is hope that this will change, at least in New York.

Legislation has been introduced in the New York Assembly (A.7842) that, if passed, would require all taxi cabs to be accessible by the year 2012. Some of the required access features would include:

• Ramps or lifts for people in wheelchairs
• Assistive listening systems for people with hearing impairments
• All signs in taxis in braille and large print
• Some sort of device in hybrid taxis that would allow a blind or visually impaired person to hear the vehicle.

It is imperative that all taxis are accessible, especially in a city as large as New York City where many residents and visitors are living with disabilities and rely on taxis as their mode of transportation. I invite all New Yorkers to write your representatives asking their support of bill A.7842 so that by 2012, all travelers will have access to this important mode of transportation.

Re: Hailing Accessible Taxis
Posted by Crista Earl [http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=47&TopicID=252&SubTopicID=56&DocumentID=2638] on 6/12/2009 4:45:15 AM

I was recently in an accessible taxi. I didn't even know they existed until then. It was very low t the ground and had a wide door and space for a wheelchair, and the driver had special training to know how to get a wheelchair-user in and out.

I asked how people usually get such a car, and h said people need to call 311 to request one. It will be great when everyone can just hail one.

Post a Comment