Letter: Uber pushing out accessible options
Dustin Jones of Bronx, 27, a disability advocate who sits on the board of Disabled In Action, gets of a yellow cap to join the Taxis For All Campaign protest outside Uber's New York City headquarters in Manhattan on Thursday, July 30, 2015. Credit: Yeong-Ung Yang
Not everyone can use Uber ["Histories, drug tests for drivers," News, Aug. 3].
New York City's disability community celebrated when Mayor Michael Bloomberg agreed to make half of yellow cabs wheelchair accessible by 2020. This was to be accomplished through the sale of 2,000 new medallions for yellow cabs, all of which would be wheelchair-accessible, and by replacing taxis being retired. Currently, Uber vehicles outnumber yellow cabs in NYC. Their entrepreneurial, disruptive business model, which Newsday applauds, almost completely disregards wheelchair users ["Disrupting the global status quo," Editorial, July 5].
Uber is being sued in many U.S. cities for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Uber says the Act doesn't apply to the company; the U.S. Justice Department says it does.
If Uber is successful in eliminating its competition, the promise of 50 percent taxi accessibility will be illusory. If Uber wants to be the taxi service of the future, service must be provided to everyone, not just those who can walk.
James Weisman, Oyster Bay
Editor's note: The writer is chief executive of the United Spinal Association, an advocacy organization with 40,000 members.
