A federal judge has ordered the Taxi and Limousine Commission to make all new taxis wheelchair-accessible until New York City meets the 50% threshold it agreed to in a 2013 settlement agreement.
The ruling, issued by Judge George Daniels this week in Manhattan federal court, comes after a consortium of disability advocates sued the TLC earlier this year for failing to meet the settlement’s terms: making 50% of the city’s 13,587 yellow cabs wheelchair accessible by 2020.
In his ruling, Daniels told the TLC to abandon its practice of requiring just 50% of new cabs to be accessible, and instead require all new and renewed medallions to be on accessible vehicles until the goal is reached.
“…Retaining the current practice leave [the TLC] with no concrete prediction for when they would meet the requirement, if at all,” Daniels wrote.
Currently, 3,752 yellow cabs are accessible, making up 28% of all medallions issued by the TLC. But that’s 42% of the taxis making regular trips — so-called “active medallions.”
Court filings show the TLC expects it could reach 50% accessibility with active medallions by the end of the year if every new cab is required to be wheelchair-accessible.
At the time of the agreement, signed by Daniels in 2014, more than 98% of the city’s yellow cabs were inaccessible to wheelchair-using passengers. At the time, the judge called the settlement “one of the most significant acts of inclusion in this city since Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers.”
Both sides negotiated extensions following the disruption of the taxi industry by rideshare apps and the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, eventually settling on a 2023 deadline for the accessibility goals. But four years past the initial deadline, only 32% of the city’s total taxi medallions were affixed to wheelchair-accessible vehicles.
As previously reported by the Daily News, the TLC has argued that the agreement to make half of the entire medallion fleet accessible is impossible, arguing that a stricter mandate would turn drivers away from yellow cabs, due to the expense of wheelchair-accessible vehicles.
Daniels rejected the impossibility argument.
“The record simply reflects a lack of will and creative solution,” he wrote.
Milagros Franco of Manhattan tries out a wheelchair-accessible taxi in this file photo. (Bryan Smith for New York Daily News)
TLC commissioner David Do acknowledged the decision on Friday and said the city would abide by the ruling.
“Our commitment to accessibility is unwavering and we will move swiftly to propose rules reflecting Judge Daniels’s decision,” Commissioner Do told The News in a statement. “Working to ensure that people with disabilities have exactly the same access to transportation as everyone else has always been one of our top priorities, and this only reinforces that commitment.”
Dan Brown, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said Friday that it was “always a good day,” when a ruling increased accessibility.
“The city has to meet the requirements,” he said. “We won our motion, and we hope the TLC will do the right thing now.”