More accessible cabs hit cities

Traveling around Washington, D.C., is a challenge for Bobby Coward, a quadriplegic, who in his job for DIRECT Action, a non-profit organization advocating rights for the disabled, frequently has to go to conferences and counseling sessions.

Coward, 45, of Washington, uses a motorized wheelchair and says he often relies on public transportation. Broken elevators have stopped him from reaching the subway, and crowds and out-of-order lift devices have kept him off the bus, he says.

"I've missed flights because of the service," Coward says.

For years, Coward has wanted wheelchair-accessible taxis to be available in Washington. He'll get his wish in January, when a fleet of 20 Toyota Sienna minivans retrofitted for wheelchair use is expected to go into full service, says Wendy Klancher, the senior transportation manager for the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.

Washington is one of a growing number of local governments across the USA tapping into Federal Transit Administration funds to jump-start accessible taxi services in their area, says Alfred LaGasse, chief executive officer of the Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association in Rockville, Md.

The federal funds, known as New Freedom grants, give taxi companies the incentive to run an accessible cab service, for which start-up costs are high and profit potential is unproven, LaGasse says. The grants have spurred companies to invest in the service in cities including Pensacola, Fla.; Mobile, Ala.; Houston; Coos Bay, Ore. and New Haven, Conn., he says.

The grants, first made available in 2005, are for boosting transportation services above what's required by the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, says Paul Griffo, a spokesman for the Federal Transit Administration. Griffo says $100 million in New Freedom funds were made available in 2009, up from $87.5 million in 2008.

Wheelchair users can ride a limited number of accessible taxis in large cities such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, but nationally the taxis continue to be "not very widespread," says Jim Weisman, co-founder of the American Association of People with Disabilities.

The shortage is bad both for the disabled community and the more than 400 cities with transit services, Weisman says. Those cities are required by the ADA to offer the disabled a shared ride service for which riders must typically reserve a ride a day in advance, he says.

"The best thing about accessible taxis that isn't talked about is that it could replace the huge paratransit cost for most of the U.S.," Weisman says.

In Washington, the 20 accessible cabs are part of a $1.2 million pilot program, of which $1 million has been paid for by federal funds, Klancher says.

"I think there is a demand for it," says Jeffrey Schaeffer, vice president of Liberty Transportation, the parent company of a Washington cab company that will operate 10 of the accessible cabs.

Elsewhere:

Pensacola, Fla.: In April, Yellow Cab of Pensacola added three accessible cabs, boosting its fleet to eight accessible vehicles, says Karen Locklear, the company's general manager. The grant paid for each of the vehicles, which cost about $35,700 a piece, says Julia Pearsall, a transportation planner with the Florida-Alabama Transportation Planning Organization. "It's not a large amount of money. But it's making a big difference," she says.
Memphis: Since July, Yellow Cab and Checker Cab have operated eight accessible taxis among its fleet of 75 vehicles, says W. Hamilton Smythe IV, president of Premier Transportation Services, which owns both companies. He says a $276,000 grant helped finance 80% of the project.
Boise: Valley Regional Transit, which serves two counties, has received federal funds totaling $1.4 million that it will use to purchase up to four accessible taxis and fund five other projects, says Gloria Chigbrow, the service development manager for mobility. The goal is to have the taxis running before next September, she says. Despite the federal grants, LaGasse says costs remain an issue.

Buying a retrofitted van costs more than $30,000 — far more than it costs to purchase a used sedan for a traditional taxi, he says. Drivers often make less money when picking up disabled passengers, as it takes longer to load them into the vehicle. Also, he says, companies with the accessible cabs have often found the cabs don't generate as much business among wheelchair users as expected.

"Let's say 4% of a fleet is (wheelchair) accessible. Only 1% of the trips are for wheelchairs. The rest are regular trips," LaGasse says.

Latshaw reports for The (Salisbury, Md.) Daily Times