Offensive remarks about accessible transportation

[MSWIFE1]

Just passing this along, got this in an email...

Offensive remarks won't make accessible transportation a reality







http://www.uptilt.com/content/8268/usp250.jpg
http://www.newmobility.com/images/emailImages/NM_logo200h.jpgDear Friend,

On behalf of our parent organization, United Spinal Association, we are sending you this very important message.

New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg has recently made incredibly offensive remarks directed at wheelchair users who want greater access to the city’s yellow taxi fleet.
Bloomberg stated that “it’s too dangerous” for wheelchair users to hail a cab in New York City and that most drivers would “pretend they didn’t see them”. He also said wheelchair users “sit too far from the driver to establish a dialogue” and therefore “they would not tip well”.
It’s time to call out the offensive remarks of Bloomberg by showing your support for a fully-accessible NYC taxi fleet. Sadly, only 231 of the city’s 13,000 taxis are accessible to wheelchair users. The New York Daily News is taking an online poll regarding the desirability of accessible taxis.
Click Here To Take The Survey (http://www.uptilt.com/c.html?rtr=on&s=6do,1kvqs,2aoq,l8lh,10xd,925v,gjbd)
United Spinal has advocated for accessible taxis in New York for many years. But this fight reaches far beyond the city’s front lines. If NYC creates an equitable system of accessible public transportation then other cities both small and large will follow.
You need not be a New York resident to take the survey as it affects our entire community. So please let your voice be heard by taking this important survey that only takes a few seconds to complete.

Regards and thanks for your support,
Ziggi Landsman
VP of Online Relations
United Spinal Association
zlandsman@unitedspinal.org (zlandsman@unitedspinal.org)

Background reading on this issue:
http://www.spinalcord.org/push-for-cab-access-grows/ (http://www.uptilt.com/c.html?rtr=on&s=6do,1kvqs,2aoq,2jz3,bxs2,925v,gjbd)
http://www.spinalcord.org/key-to-hailing-a-cab-in-nyc-tip-well-and-hide-your-wheelchair/ (http://www.uptilt.com/c.html?rtr=on&s=6do,1kvqs,2aoq,76ju,be9e,925v,gjbd)

New Mobility Magazine | A Publication of United Spinal Association | 415 Horsham Rd. | Horsham, PA 19044























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[LindaT]

What an incredibly stupid thing for someone in his position to say.

[Donno]

I took the survey...

[fynalefree]

Incredible, that's the way to get re elected.

[Eileen]

Bloomberg seems to be putting his foot in his mouth all over the place lately. His stupid remarks about Occupy Wall St. and now about the taxis's make it seem like he is going out of his way to identify with the 1% instead of the 99%. I did the survey question earlier today.

[Wheel Travel]

Obviously, he doesn't know anybody in a wheelchair. When I visit NYC, I hide, and my friends hail the cab. It takes me 2-3 minutes longer than an AB person to jump in & out. That just make me sick. They have the best cab service in London...

[cass]

particularly amazing to me as i took w/c accessible taxis in sydney in 1995. hello new york??

[bob clark]

“sit too far from the driver to establish a dialogue”

Yeah, I always ride in the trunk along with my wheelchair whenever I take a taxi!

And from what I hear about NYC cabbies, if there's a lack of dialogue (like anyone "owes" a cabbie a conversation) it's because of language differences- not the distance that the rider sits from the driver.

Bob.

[crypticgimp]

i'll be calling mayor bloomberg's office today. i encourage everyone to do so! i also filled out the service. this is really ridiculous from him as typically he is right on track with common sense. not this time!

[LindaT]

Good job CG!

[ancientgimp]

My wife (then girlfriend) and I left NYC in 1973 in part because it was so innaccessible. The subway system then was absolutely, 100% innaccessible as were buses. Taxis then (as apparently now) would not pick you up in a chair w rare exceptions. The SVIPs (Special Vehicle Identification Permits) in use then were so poorly understood by the NYPD that you constantly got tickets and had to write an explanation w your permit # in order to get them torn up. We returned to NYC in our van about 4 years ago, stayed in a NJ hotel and commuted in by van as tourists for 2 weekend days. It was neartly impossible to find parking, we spent hours driving in circles trying to find a space.

I was so disappointed when Bloomburg made his decision re cabs. The MPV-1 is actually a great cab though it sucks as a vehicle for an independent driver. The subway system (to my understanding) remains largely innaccessible. It seems to me that NYC would be vulnerable to a huge ADA lawsuit due to the pitiful accommodations provided to disabled people for community access. Bloomburg's own explanation is a good rationale for cabbies to continue to pass right on by chair users.

[Liz321]

I can't even tell you how LIVID this makes me....

[addiesue]

:( this is very frustrating. I really dont wish paralysis on anyone but when people make stupid remarks like this I can't help but envision them in rehab realizing the reality of things.

[Soliloquy]

most drivers would “pretend they didn’t see them”.
That may be true, but that doesn't make it right. It's harder for a wheelchair user to get a cab in the city than a black man, but even Bloomberg knows cab driver discrimination against black people is wrong (http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/03/09/nyc-shows-videos-in-push-for-cabs-to-accept-riders/).

From my original reading of this story, I got the impression this part “sit too far from the driver to establish a dialogue” and therefore “they would not tip well”. was referring to able-bodied people using wheelchair-accessible taxis, not wheelchair users. Why should the ability of an able-bodied person to sit closer to the driver trump our right to transportation? (Besides, wouldn't many people prefer to be further away from the driver?)

Someone from the Hearing Access Program had the best rebuttal to this argument. In a letter to the editor of the New York Post, she suggested adding induction loops for hearing aids to the taxis as well. Hey, Bloomberg himself said it was a problem!

This is supposed to be the greatest city in the world, with tourists and delegates coming from all over. Why is he arguing for our taxi fleet to be immune to progress? Why do they continue to balk at spending money to make transportation accessible in this town, then wonder why we have trouble convincing employers that we'll show up on time?

[Van Quad]

particularly amazing to me as i took w/c accessible taxis in sydney in 1995. hello new york??

Vancouver had wheelchair accessible taxis in 1985! The taxi companies obviously have Bloomberg in their pocket.

[Lorrie]

Lessens my guilt of jumping turn styles and bailing on cabs w/my friends :0

[canuck]

I think I read somewhere that 20% of Vancouver's fleet is wheelchair accessible.

Vancouver had wheelchair accessible taxis in 1985! The taxi companies obviously have Bloomberg in their pocket.

[Van Quad]

I think I read somewhere that 20% of Vancouver's fleet is wheelchair accessible.

This from Wikipedia:

as of 2006, 477 licensed cabs operate in the city, including 59 wheelchair-accessible vehicles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_in_Vancouver

But I'm sure that number has increased in the last five years.

[Geoffrey]

I read the article on Bloomburg and could not believe how stupid the man could be. He is not even a 'good' politician. There is a lot of 'old' money in that city and I am sure with the aging population comes mobility issues - even in New York.
I lived in Vancouver BC for many years before having a chair. But I go there frequently and like Calgary never have a taxi cab issue.

Progressive cities don't just cater to the SCI they are preparing for the high percentage of the aging population that will carry a high percentage of mobility issues as they get old.

I guess Bloomburg wants to keep New York city from advancing into the future.

I did the survey too.

[Scaper1]

Ah, well, depends what your definition of accessible is. If you have a vent tray and can't bend your neck to go through the door, most of the cabs in Vancouver are just plain dangerous.

[WahWah]

I am not a resident on the great New York City, but my god what a bunch of merde.

After 9/11 and the way Mayor Gulianni handled that I was actually shocked when I saw an interview on Tv with New York's "New Mayor" Bloomburg, my instant view of the bloke that he seemed pretty insipid and down right piss weak.

The above set of disgusting comments are those of a complete dick, that is just shocking.

New York the World's Capital City has that fucking idiot as it's head dude?

I mean I don't know what Rudy G was like but surely he wasn't as stupid...was he?

[canuck]

http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/ptb/documents/110316_DiscussionPaper_AccessibleTransportation.do c

The above is a discussion paper on acessible transportation in British Columbia. I was out by a percentage point re Vancouver according to page 11 of the report 19% of the cabs in Vancouver are accessible.

As far as the table showing the rest of BC I would say it's a ballpark guess because it only shows two wheelchair cabs for Penticton and their are three companies in town and all three have wheelchair taxi's.

One issue I have found with wheelchair cabs outside of Vancouver is that the companies often don't have the wheelchair cabs on the road if one is travelling during off peak hours.

[Soliloquy]

I mean I don't know what Rudy G was like but surely he wasn't as stupid...was he? I regret to inform you that Giuliani was just as boneheaded. He fought against disability advocates also, until near the end of his term when he suddenly reversed position and claimed all taxis would be made accessible by (I think it was) 1997. Mind you, they didn't actually make any preparations for this to happen, so when the next administration took over it was impossible to comply. I still wonder if anyone sued on that basis or if that promise was simply forgotten.

[betheny]

LOL, was just ready to post-No, Rudy G. was a douche too! But he was a douche whose master plan blew up in his face Bloomburg seems more complacent than Rudy at the time.

[gjnl]

Has the Mayor ever been to London? Black cabs (although they come in many colors with various designs and patterns) there are 100% accessible and have the following amenities for people with disabilities:

London Black Cab Accessibility
All black cabs are wheelchair accessible and carry assistance dogs at no charge. Most taxis have a variety of additional aids for travellers, including:
* Ramps
* Swivel seat
* Intermediate step
* Seat sight patches
* Large coloured grab handles
* Intercom
* Induction loop

Access & Technology (http://www.disabilityworld.org/April-May2000/Tech&Access/Taxis.htm):
Access Law is Catalyst for Entirely New Taxi Design in London
By Marc Krizack (krizack@sfsu.edu)

Critics of laws requiring accessibility often argue that the costs are too high. But one industrial designer in England used the law as an opportunity to make the first redesign of London Taxis in more than 50 years. The result has benefited cab drivers and passengers, both disabled and not, and breathed new life into the maker of the famed London black cab.

Carbodies, the manufacturer of the London black cab, was already facing a difficult future when Parliament passed the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995. Carbodies had only one dated design and was out of compliance with a variety of regulations. The 1995 Act required that all newly licensed taxis be accessible to people with disabilities and mandated that all taxis in London would be accessible by January 1, 2000. If Carbodies didn't do something soon, it would be out of compliance with laws respecting disabled access and it would go out of business.

Talented designer
One member of Carbodies' management team was a talented young auto designer named Jevon Thorpe, who had graduated with a degree in industrial design from England's Coventry University. Thorpe's objective was to redesign the traditional black cab to make it both accessible and modern on the interior, while maintaining the external visual image that had become as recognizable on the London urban landscape as the cablecar is in San Francisco. The result was the TX1, which features lower emissions, improved safety, and increased driver comforts. It is also the first taxi in the world with wheelchair accessibility, accomplished through larger doors, a roomy interior, and folding ramps.

Today, London is the only city in the world whose entire fleet of cabs is 100% wheelchair accessible. This is especially significant in view of the fact that the lack of accessibility of the bus and underground (metro/subway) systems has left about 400,000 people with disabilities with no means of public transportation other than taxis.

With the success of the TX1, Carbodies became London Taxis International and Jevon Thorpe was named its managing director. London Taxis International was recognized by British MP, Glenda Jackson, for its key role in achieving the goals of the 1995 legislation. Thorpe was also granted an honorary degree of Master of Technology from his Alma Mater, Coventry University.

Safety issues
The lack of transport access for people with disabilities has been more than a mobility issue. It has been a safety issue as well. The London Metropolitan Police have stated that 25% of all rapes and serious sexual assaults are committed by unlicensed taxi drivers. While taxis were inaccessible, a disabled woman in need of a ride had to put herself at the mercy of anyone willing to pick her up. Now, all that has changed.

There are currently 22,500 licensed taxi drivers in London. Though still referred to as "black cabs," cabs come in a variety of colors. Many also sport advertising placards.

Improvements
The TX1 has been redesigned to feel and ride more like a car than a taxi. It is roomier and ergonomically designed. The windows are larger, providing better visibility and improved safety. The instrument panel has a modern design with all instruments and controls within easy reach. Improvements have been made to the ventilation system as well. The vehicle, at least its luxury model, also comes with a state of the art stereo system.

Improvements in the passenger compartment include a specially designed child's seat. And the standard swivel seat has been fitted with an integral back rest, perfect for elderly passengers or people with mobility problems.

To keep ahead of current and proposed European Union legislation the TX1 has increased door apertures (6 inches higher and 8 inches wider), that open to a full 90 degrees. This enables all customers, including wheelchair passengers, to get in and out safely and easily. Even the pull type exterior door handles are easier to open.

As London Taxi International says on its web site, "Ultimately, the TX1 offers a more comfortable, smoother journey for everyone." After all, isn't that what universal design is all about?

[Van Quad]

Ah, well, depends what your definition of accessible is. If you have a vent tray and can't bend your neck to go through the door, most of the cabs in Vancouver are just plain dangerous.

Good point. There seems to be no design criteria for accessible taxis. For a couple of years they were getting ridiculously small and even I was having a tough time getting in. New designs are slightly larger but would never accommodate a vent tray.

[Scaper1]

My first trip "out" from the hospital I was still in a full neck brace and using a huge vent. The cab driver proceeded to actually shove my head down and forward in an attempt to cram the chair through the door into the tiny space, and then he slammed the door into the vent tubings and knocked them all off, getting very agitated by the ensuing beeps and alarms, you know, the ones indicating I was no longer breathing. Good times.

Design is one thing, but the drivers need decent (mandatory) training too.

[LindaT]

My first trip "out" from the hospital I was still in a full neck brace and using a huge vent. The cab driver proceeded to actually shove my head down and forward in an attempt to cram the chair through the door into the tiny space, and then he slammed the door into the vent tubings and knocked them all off, getting very agitated by the ensuing beeps and alarms, you know, the ones indicating I was no longer breathing. Good times.

Design is one thing, but the drivers need decent (mandatory) training too.

OMG Scaper-That is awful!

[Buck503]

Accessible transportation is stupid and a waste of time!

I know I can be more offensive than that, just give me a minute.

[LindaT]

So much of this begins to come off as "will all of you crippled people please stay home or wherever you go when you are not taking all the best parking spots, taking so long and holding everyone else up,asking for special favors and generally looking sort of scarey with your chairs and tubes. Don't expect us to feel sorry for you when you get kicked off the plane-what were you thinking anyhow? Also while we are at it you are costing the rest of us a lot of money, so could you just hurry up and die."

(sorry, I am cranky and cynical today)

[Van Quad]

So much of this begins to come off as "will all of you crippled people please stay home or wherever you go when you are not taking all the best parking spots, taking so long and holding everyone else up,asking for special favors and generally looking sort of scarey with your chairs and tubes. Don't expect us to feel sorry for you when you get kicked off the plane-what were you thinking anyhow? Also while we are at it you are costing the rest of us a lot of money, so could you just hurry up and die."

(sorry, I am cranky and cynical today)

no, that pretty well covers it :judge:

[WahWah]

Oh heya sol....Rudy G was a bit of a cock too was he?.

It's a shame isn't it, how do these idiots become so powerful?, I will never understand...lol.

[sherocksandsherolls]

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge on Friday barred the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission from issuing permits for taxicabs unless they're accessible to people who use wheelchairs, a decision that was praised by advocates for the disabled as a milestone that could have national implications.
U.S. District Judge George Daniels said in his written ruling that the commission can provide taxi medallions only for wheelchair-accessible vehicles until it produces a comprehensive plan to provide meaningful access to taxicab service for disabled passengers. He said such a plan must include targeted goals and standards and anticipated measurable results.
"Meaningful access for the disabled to public transportation services is not a utopian goal or political promise, it is a basic civil right," the judge wrote.


http://start.toshiba.com/news/read.php?rip_id=%3CD9RQIJ8G0%40news.ap.org%3E&ps=1011

[Curt Leatherbee]

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge on Friday barred the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission from issuing permits for taxicabs unless they're accessible to people who use wheelchairs, a decision that was praised by advocates for the disabled as a milestone that could have national implications.
U.S. District Judge George Daniels said in his written ruling that the commission can provide taxi medallions only for wheelchair-accessible vehicles until it produces a comprehensive plan to provide meaningful access to taxicab service for disabled passengers. He said such a plan must include targeted goals and standards and anticipated measurable results.
"Meaningful access for the disabled to public transportation services is not a utopian goal or political promise, it is a basic civil right," the judge wrote.


http://start.toshiba.com/news/read.php?rip_id=%3CD9RQIJ8G0%40news.ap.org%3E&ps=1011

Wow, yes that is very good news, finally justice prevails.

[Soliloquy]

Bloomberg's at it again:

From Capital New York (http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/politics/2012/01/5040152/bloomberg-challenges-broad-decision-mandating-meaningful-taxi-servi):
Bloomberg challenges a broad decision mandating 'meaningful' taxi service for the disabled

By Dana Rubinstein

12:21 pm Jan. 16, 2012

On Dec. 30, a little more than a week after Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced an agreement to bring taxi service to the outer boroughs while making taxis and livery cars more accessible to the disabled, New York City quietly filed notice that it would appeal a federal court decision that imposed an even more stringent requirement for disability access.

On Dec. 23, U.S. District Judge George Daniels ruled that the city, because it regulates the taxi industry and does not require medallion owners to provide "meaningful" access to the wheelchair-bound, violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.

As part of the decision, the judge called for “immediate and full compliance” with the A.D.A.

"The [Taxi and Limousine Commission] must propose a comprehensive plan to provide meaningful access to taxicab service for disabled wheelchair bound passengers," wrote Daniels. "Such a plan must include targeted goals and standards, as well as anticipated measurable results. Until such a plan is proposed and approved by this Court, all new taxi medallions sold or new street-hail livery licenses or permits issued by the TLC must be for wheelchair accessible vehicles."

In other words, New York City cannot sell any non-accessible outer-borough taxi permits until the judge says so.

In a sign that he may not consider the governor's accessibility plan, vague though it is, sufficient, the judge also said, in a footnote:

The recent legislation signed by Governor Cuomo providing for a greater number of wheelchair accessible taxicabs and livery cabs, and the TLC's proposed dispatch system may be steps towards providing meaningful access to the New York City taxicab system to disabled persons who require wheelchairs. However, meaningful access for the disabled to public transportation services is not a utopian goal or political promise, it is a basic civil right. Title II requires immediate and full compliance.

The city has requested a stay of the judge's order. He has yet to rule on its request. So as of now, it's still in effect. That means that even if the state legislature approves the grand compromise announced by Cuomo and Bloomberg last month, which it could do as early as this week, the city still won't be able to move forward with the bulk of its outer-borough taxi plan.

The judge's decision also means the accessibility of New York City's taxi and limousine system is now under two separate forms of oversight: the federal court's and the governor's. Not only must the Bloomberg administration present an accessibility plan to the judge, who must then approve it before the city's outer-borough taxi plans can be put into effect, but the administration must present a similar plan for approval to Governor Andrew Cuomo's department of transportation.

No major city in America has full accessibility.

The compromise announced by Cuomo and Bloomberg on Dec. 20 allows the city to create a new class of 18,000 outer-borough taxis: 14,400 non-accessible outer-borough taxis, and 3,600 accessible ones.

The compromise also allows the city to issue 2,000 regular taxi medallions, which sell for upward of $1 million each and would, theoretically, put more than $1 billion into the city coffers at a time when it is facing a substantial budget deficit.

However, the agreement reached with the governor comes with certain restrictions of its own: in the beginning, the city can sell a mere 400 of those regular yellow-taxi medallions. Only after the Bloomberg administration presents the governor with a plan to improve the overall taxi and limousine fleet's accessible, and the governor approves it, can New York City auction off the bulk of the medallions.

For his part, the judge will approve a plan based on how "meaningful" the access is that it provides. But what "meaningful access" means is kind of up in the air.

The city argues that a dispatch service it wants to set up, one that would allow people in wheelchairs to call 311 and thereby get prompt taxi service, provides meaningful access.

But some disability advocates contend the opposite.

"Meaningful is something that’s not unduly burdensome," said Jim Weisman, general counsel for the United Spinal Association. "So in a hail-a-cab system, where it takes five minutes to get a cab, what’s the equivalence to that? Is it an hour? Is it 20 minutes. I think an hour is burdensome, right? Everyone’s threshold is going to be in a different place, but one thing everyone can agree on is if all taxis are accessible, it would be equivalent."