NYLPI joins transportation, disability, and other civil rights advocates in signing in a letter to Mayor Eric Adams and David Do,  commissioner and chair of the New York City Taxi and Limo Commission, to consider the civil rights of people with disabilities by amending the Green Rides Initiative proposal, to ensure that every for-hire vehicle in New York City is both electric and wheelchair-accessible by 2030.

The letter reads:

“Our groups – disability, transportation and other civil rights organizations alike – applaud the proposal to move toward a zero-emission fleet… Since for-hire vehicles make up a significant portion of the city’s traffic, with former DOT Commissioner Lou Riccio estimating that  for-hire vehicles make up nearly 50% of midtown traffic alone (not including yellow  taxis), a transition to electric vehicles has the potential to make a real difference in  reducing pollution here. But all our groups agree that the right to breathe clean air must not limit the civil rights of disabled people, who have fought hard for decades for more accessibility in  the city’s medallion and other for-hire services that the TLC regulates.”

NYLPI’s comment, by Justin Wood, director of Policy at NYLPI, additionally issued NYLPI’s own comments:

“NYLPI strongly supports the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC)’s goals of increasing the accessibility of the for-hire-vehicle (FHV) fleet and rapidly transitioning to a 100% electric vehicle fleet by 2030. However, while the proposed rules require an increase in the number of trips dispatched in Electric Vehicles (EVs), they do not require additional trips to be dispatched in Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles (WAVs) and we strongly oppose the approach of merely ensuring that by 2030, all rides dispatched by Uber and Lyft must be in a vehicle that is either an EV or a WAV. Instead, we urge the City to support the development and rapid adoption of vehicles that are both fully accessible and zero-emissions.”

Read the TLC Green Ride’s full letter here.

Read NYLPI’s full comment here.