Half of New York Metropolis’s lively fleet of iconic yellow taxi cabs at the moment are wheelchair accessible, Taxi and Limousine Fee chief David Do introduced Thursday, marking a milestone mandated by a 2013 settlement settlement.
“In an effort that began 12 years ago, the disability community rightfully demanded 50% of all taxi cabs — approximately 5,100 vehicles — to be wheelchair accessible,” Do advised reporters standing exterior the TLC’s Woodside, Queens, inspection facility. “And we made that today.”
As of Thursday morning, based on TLC knowledge, 5,140 cabs — roughly 51% of the lively fleet of just below 10,000 taxis — have been wheelchair accessible.
A trio of accessible Toyota Sienna taxis exterior the TLC’s Woodside, Queens, inspection facility. (Evan Simko-Bednarski/New York Each day Information)
That quantity doesn’t embody the roughly 3,600 taxi medallions “in storage” — which means medallions which might be owned, however not presently connected to a automobile making common journeys.
“Everyone usually takes it for granted that they have options to go on transportation,” mentioned Milagros Franco, an consumption coordinator on the Brooklyn Middle for the Independence of the Disabled.
“For the females here, you don’t have to plan your hot dates according to your transportation,” Franco mentioned to the group of reporters and TLC officers. “Hallelujah, praise the Lord, that I no longer have to do that — [I] have options now.”
“I’m so happy that we have finally reached the 50% benchmark,” she added. “What’s our next step? Let’s move forward to 100% accessibility.”
Franco and Do, joined by Deputy Mayor for Operations Jeffrey Roth, BCID head Joe Rappaport and TLC Commissioner Paul Bader, ceremonially bolted the medallion on Cab No. 9G84, representing the 50% benchmark for the lively taxi fleet.
Cab No. 9G84 — representing the ceremonial 50% mark of town’s yellow taxi fleet turning into disabled accessible — exits the Woodside facility after a profitable inspection.(Evan Simko-Bednarski/New York Each day Information)
“I’d like to thank the disability community and the Taxis for All campaign for your patience, persistence and resilience,” Do mentioned. “You know better than anyone that should have happened years ago.”
The authorized battle for extra accessible cabs started in 2011, when Taxis for All, a consortium of advocates, first filed swimsuit. On the time, lower than 2% of New York Metropolis taxi cabs may accommodate a wheelchair.
Medallion No. 9G84, the ceremonial 50% mark. (Evan Simko-Bednarski/New York Each day Information)
The swimsuit was settled in 2013, with the TLC agreeing to make half of all the 13,587-cab fleet accessible by 2020.
When Manhattan Federal Choose George Daniels signed off on the settlement in 2014, he referred to as the settlement “one of the most significant acts of inclusion in this city since Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers.”
Either side negotiated extensions after the disruption of the taxi trade by rideshare apps and the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, finally selecting a 2023 deadline.
However 4 years previous the preliminary deadline, solely 32% of town’s whole taxi medallions have been affixed to wheelchair-accessible autos.
The New York Taxi Employees Alliance has since negotiated a mortgage program, below which $5 million from the Empire State Growth Company will be loaned at low charges to drivers via the Incapacity Alternative Fund to partially again the acquisition of a wheelchair-accessible automobile.
Incapacity advocates and metropolis officers mount the medallion on Cab No. 9G84. (Evan Simko-Bednarski/New York Each day Information)
For different drivers, the TLC’s personal taxi enchancment fund — funded by a $1 surcharge on cab fares — gives $20,000 in grant cash to drivers towards accessible-vehicle purchases.
Underneath the phrases of the 2013 settlement, the TLC is required to make half its complete yellow cab fleet accessible throughout the subsequent three years — not simply the lively fleet of vehicles making common journeys.
The dimensions of that fleet is ready by regulation, which caps the variety of medallions at 13,587. Meaning the TLC might want to add some 2,000 extra accessible cabs by the top of 2028.
“We’re going to meet the deadline,” Do mentioned.
Initially Revealed: June 5, 2025 at 5:25 PM EDT
