DC fails to enforce its own law, leaving wheelchair users stranded

The day before Kelly Mack’s vacation, she called the taxi company to schedule a car for the morning. They couldn’t guarantee they’d have a wheelchair-accessible taxi available then, even with a day’s notice, but they could send one now. Mack jumped at the chance and booked into a hotel nearby. 

In the morning, when everyone else was taking the hotel’s shuttle to the airport, Mack had no choice but to motor in her wheelchair down the highway in the dark to make her flight. 

That isn’t an unusual experience for Mack. She’s started keeping a spreadsheet to track her experiences with D.C. taxi companies, and in the ten years she’s been living in the District, she said, “I can say pretty solidly that it seems to only be getting worse.” 

A $500,000 pilot was meant to improve the availability of wheelchair-accessible taxis, by creating a centralized hotline so they were easier to book, and hiring 24 new drivers. But wheelchair users say it’s failed. Only six drivers have been hired; Mack has called the new hotline ten times and only received a taxi once.

And D.C. continues not to enforce its own law requiring 20% of taxi fleets to be wheelchair accessible. The Wash found through a Freedom of Information Request, that out of 18 taxi companies in the district large enough to be overseen by the law, just two are fulfilling the legal requirement. 

“They just need to get in compliance with the law,” said Kai Hall, coordinator of the DC Transport Equity Network, which advocates for more reliable transportation for all members of Washington, D.C.  That so few taxi companies “have actually met this requirement after twelve years of this becoming law – there is something fundamentally wrong there,” he said.

The Department For Hire Vehicles, which oversees the taxi cab industry and the pilot, declined an interview with The Wash. A spokesperson did answer some questions via email, which read in part, “Enforcing the 20% WAV requirement more strictly would likely force many taxi companies out of business.”

The spokesperson mentioned that this is worsened because there is no comparable rule for Uber and Lyft. However, student attorneys at the Disability Rights Law Clinic said Uber has become more accessible since a lawsuit brought in 2017. The lawsuit alleged “that Uber’s failure to modify its policies and practices which it was argued were dissuading its drivers from driving WAVs was discriminating against people with disabilities in the district,” said Lana Parsons.

Both Mack and Naomi Hess have had more success booking Ubers. But users report that wheelchair-accessible Ubers usually stop running after 11 pm.

Naomi Hess, aged 24, has been living in D.C. for two years. “I should be able to stay out as late as I want, or go anywhere I want, and unfortunately, because of my worries about transportation that’s not an option for me,” Hess said. 

“Do these companies think disabled people have a curfew? Because we don’t. We have full, active social lives,” said Hess. The DFHV is paying three drivers more to incentivize them to drive in the evenings, but Hess has never been able to book a wheelchair-accessible taxi in D.C., even after the pilot began. 

In a November accessibility advisory meeting, a DFHV staff member said most drivers clock out at 4 or 5 pm. “We can’t make them work; we can only incentivize their work so they can be available,” he said. 

In October, Hess went to a concert in Baltimore with her friend. The train was delayed, so by the time they arrived back at Union Station, public transport had stopped running. Hess called Yellow Cab and Royal Taxis, both listed on the D.C. government website as providing 24/7 accessible service. Hess said they told her they don’t have wheelchair-accessible taxis available at night. 

“Taxi drivers in Washington D.C. are independent, and taxi companies do not have control over their schedules,” said a spokesperson for Transco Inc., which manages Royal Taxis. In an email to The Wash, Yellow Cab stated, “Yellow Cab supports wheelchair accessible trips 24/7, 365 days a year.” 

Hess was left with no choice but to motor in her wheelchair home at 1.30 am, while her friend called her from the Uber she’d been able to book with no trouble. “But like her, I should have been able to find a vehicle,” said Hess. “And it’s just not fair that because I’m in a motorized wheelchair, the companies decided not to be able to offer me services.”

Beyond the lack of enforcement of the 20% rule, the number of wheelchair-accessible taxis actually on dispatch is even lower. The law requires taxi companies to have wheelchair accessible taxis within their fleet, it doesn’t require them to actually be in use, meaning many sit empty in garages.

Best estimates are between 2 and 6% of taxis on dispatch are accessible. But even of those not all are used to transport wheelchair users. In the November accessibility meeting, DFHV’s Nicholas Roland said that sometimes they are used to carry extra luggage and groceries.

The DFHV said in an email to The Wash, “Requiring all companies to be on a dispatch system may not be feasible, especially for smaller companies.” The spokesperson stated, “Imposing such a requirement could create a significant financial burden, potentially pushing companies out of business.”

Wheelchair users have stopped calling the hotline, only 14 even tried in October. Of these 14, DFHV slides show only two tracked completed trips. Yellow cab journeys were listed as ‘unknown’ and four callers reportedly chose not to connect with any provider. 

Mack explained she often cancels taxi requests when it takes too long and she has had to find an alternative mode of transport to get there in time. 

This has a significant impact on wheelchair users. “Repeatedly our health systems show transportation is one of the biggest barriers to access,” Hall from the DC Transport Equity Network said. “Especially people with disabilities can miss their appointments if they don’t have reliable transportation, which leads to worse health outcomes.”

The D.C. code says companies should promptly dispatch wheelchair accessible vehicles, and,  “If a wheelchair-accessible vehicle cannot be dispatched within 20 minutes, dispatch shall call another company with wheelchair-accessible vehicles to handle the request.” 

When I was with Mack she tried to book a wheelchair accessible taxi to a concert; 24 hours later it still said ‘in progress’ on the tracker. 

The law to regulate the percentage of accessible cabs in a company’s fleet began in 2012, increasing up to 20% in 2018. But from 2018 to 2022 it was waived, although Parsons said, “the legality for the prior waivers since they were done through administrative issuance by DFHV is questionable.” Explaining that administrative issuances should clarify a policy or law, not stop it from applying.

The pilot which has been running since June, offered cab drivers an extra $30 an hour as an incentive on top of fare income, which some drivers were receiving even if they made no wheelchair accessible trips. 

In August, when the pilot had been running for two months, Nicole an operations assistant at Transco stated to The Wash, “Since the new WAV hotline has not gained traction, we are getting only a few calls each month from the centralized line. We made a company decision to let the WAV Pilot drivers take on other dispatch trips so as not to waste resources.” 

“More accountability is needed by the cab companies and as a tax payer I want my government to hold them accountable for their service,” said Mack.

The current pilot ends this month. But city leaders are planning to spend more money to fix the issue, with a 2.0 pilot beginning in February 2025. Wheelchair users aren’t confident the new pilot will be any better.