Accessibility
The Taxi and Limousine Commission has been struggling to meet a court-ordered quota of vehicles capable of carrying wheelchairs and motorized scooters for a decade — and coming up short.
While increasing the number of participants, the agency plans to raise costs and cap subsidies: “It very much feels like I’m being punished for using paratransit,” one commuter testified.
Access-A-Ride users enjoy the freedom that e-hailing an accessible vehicle brings, but the pilot program’s budget can accommodate only a fraction of those interested.
Advocates say the trips are unnecessary in the first place, when other places require only a doctor’s note or at-home evaluation to qualify for the service.
The mayor, advocates for people with disabilities and even MTA board members have called the move unfair and questioned if the funding shift could worsen service reliability and accountability for Access-A-Ride.
A surcharge added to every yellow or green cab ride could rise from 30 cents to $1 in a new effort to meet a long-blown accessibility deadline.
The MTA is assessing new goals and financial needs in a post-pandemic world. Riders with mobility issues remind the agency that serving them humanely is not only the law but “the right thing to do.”
Staten Islanders who depend on Access-a-Ride say they get left in the lurch all the time — and that’s without a natural disaster.
Just over the city limits in Westchester and Nassau County, riders with disabilities aren’t forced to trek to out-of-the-way “assessment centers” to prove their physical capabilities or lack thereof.
The Taxi and Limousine Commission has extended a cap on livery car licenses, which industry leaders say could be a final nail in their coffin.
The worst-performing subway escalator in The Bronx — at the Gun Hill Road stop on the No. 2 and 5 lines — is also one of the newest in the borough, having been in service 17 years at the station. Most Bronx subway escalators are more than 20 years old.
GOT A TIP?
We’re here to listen. Email tips@thecity.nyc or visit our tips page for other ways to share.
New technologies and an explosion of remote-work jobs hasn’t stopped the unemployment rate for New Yorkers with disabilities from jumping 10 percentage points since 2019, while funding for support groups has been slashed.
Victor Calise, one of the city’s longest-serving commissioners, will leave his post March 4 to take a job in the private sector. New Yorkers living with physical and mental challenges see the opening as an opportunity for the office to do more.
Some 1.3 million seniors and people with disabilities are eligible for discounted trips — but the MTA has managed to make its tap-and-go contactless payment system available to only 70 of them.
The paratransit service’s drivers may be seeing more green down the road as the MTA considers multiple measures — including bonuses and paying for bridge and tunnel rides — aimed at boosting reliability, THE CITY has learned.
Advocates for New Yorkers with disabilities urged officials at the agency’s monthly board meeting Wednesday to fix the system — as new data shows the number of people left stranded by Access-A-Ride spiked in September.
The reliability of the MTA’s Access-A-Ride paratransit service for New Yorkers with limited mobility has sunk to its lowest level in years — even as ridership has risen to almost 80% of pre-pandemic levels.
The Mets-Willets Point complex — which serves anyone going to Citi Field, the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the Queens Museum or Queens Night Market — is still inaccessible for LIRR passengers who can’t navigate stairs.
The new format, which also doubles the public comment period to 60 minutes, was especially welcomed by disabled riders who said the MTA’s unreliable paratransit services kept them from testifying about the MTA’s unreliable paratransit services.
In case you missed it
- Family of Woman Whose Body Was Lost for Days in Health Clinic Stairwell Seeks Justice, Closure
- New Council Bill Would Shine Light on Jail Deaths
- Is North Brooklyn the Future of New York City?
- LISTEN: If You Zone It, They Will Build
- City Hall to Let Local Housing Vouchers Be Used Across New York State
LOCAL NEWS POWERED BY NEW YORKERS.
We cover the uncovered, hold the powerful accountable, and make sense of the greatest city in the world.