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Automobiles

Automobiles

In New York City, cars, taxis, and for-hire vehicles are reliable ways for people with disabilities to get around. But they haven’t always been fully accessible. Many people with disabilities travel in standard vehicles. This includes some wheelchair users who can transfer to a seat and fold their manual chairs. People who use motorized wheelchairs need vehicles with ramps.

Owning and parking a car can be expensive in the city. Many disabled people have faced discrimination from taxi drivers who don’t want to drive them. Advocates have pushed for accessible parking, and for more accessible taxis and for-hire vehicles.

Activism Milestones

  • 1947: The city began issuing special vehicle cards to disabled workers and full-time students. 75 veterans applied on the first day.
  • 1972: Disabled people traveling for any reason can access the special vehicle cards. They could also get a card if another person was driving them.
  • 2011: The Taxis for All campaign filed a lawsuit after attempts to pass a city council bill to increase the number of accessible taxis failed.
  • 2014: A settlement with the Taxis for All campaign required 50% of the TLC’s taxi fleet to be wheelchair accessible by 2020.
  • 2015: The TLC required hearing loops for deaf and hard-of-hearing passengers in new taxis.
  • 2025: TLC reaches 50% of wheelchair accessible vehicles in their “active” fleet.
  • 2025: The U.S. Department of Justice sued Uber for denying rides to passengers with guide dogs and wheelchairs.

Hand-driven vehicles

Early hand-controlled cars were hard to use because one hand steered while the other had to control levers for the brake, clutch, and throttle. The invention of automatic transmission cars made safer, more user-friendly hand controls possible. EPVA worked with Veteran’s Affairs to get financial support to buy their own cars.

Top left: c .1940s. Photo from the EPVA Collection. Top right: 2013. Replica depiction of hand controls in FDR’s car. Bottom: c. 1970s Photo from the EPVA Collection.

Parking

With inaccessible sidewalks and public transit, cars were the best way for people with mobility disabilities to get around by themselves. To park, disabled drivers needed enough room to get out of their vehicle safely. Advocates worked to change laws state by state before the ADA. They also worked to change the public’s perception of handicapped parking as a “perk” instead of a safety issue.

Top: 1989. Booklet from the EPVA Collection Bottom: 2003. Cover photo for the Disabled In Action Singers album, “… and the Parking Spots Are Nothing But the Best.”

Designed for access

Wheelchair accessible vehicles are converted after they are built to add a ramp. The MV1 was the first vehicle designed to be wheelchair accessible. The makers hoped that NYC would purchase their accessible “Standard” taxis, but they bought a different model. “The Taxi of Tomorrow” had a ramp in the back, so passengers in wheelchairs couldn’t sit next to their friends or family. The MV1 was discontinued in 2016.

Top: c. 2010s. MV1 Brochure from the DIA Collection. Bottom: c. 2011. Standard Taxi booklet from the DIA Collection

Taxis For All Campaign

Activists wanted to be able to hail a taxi like other New Yorkers, but there were far too few accessible taxis. They formed a coalition called the “Taxis for All Campaign,” and asked the city council to pass a law to make more taxis accessible. In 2011, the city chose a new model of yellow taxi from a design competition, but it was not the most accessible. Protestors held a roll-in at the taxi design expo.

Both: 2011. Photos from the DIA Collection