City plan will more than double taxis for disabled

Sept. 23--Chicago officials are expected to unveil a plan Tuesday to more than double the number of taxicabs that are accessible to people with disabilities by the end of 2018.

The announcement on wheelchair-accessible taxis will be made just hours before a City Council hearing addressing the current shortage.

Only 163 of the roughly 6,000 taxis in Chicago are accessible, according to the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection.

The Emanuel administration will announce plans to add at least 204 more accessible taxis over the next four years, officials said.

"For many of us, taxis are a necessary means of getting from point A to point B," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said, "and more wheelchair-accessible vehicles are a step in the right direction."

By the end of 2018, taxi licensees who own at least 10 medallions will be required to have 10 percent of their fleet made up of wheelchair-accessible vehicles.

Currently, taxi licensees with at least 20 medallions are required to have 5 percent of their fleets made up of wheelchair-accessible vehicles, officials said.

The city requires that existing wheelchair-accessible taxis be replaced by new wheelchair-accessible taxis when the end of their life cycle is reached. That ensures that the number of accessible taxis will not shrink, officials said.

The expansion of fully accessible taxis will be subsidized in part by the city's accessibility fund, which currently contains $3.5 million. The fund is supported by fees paid by the taxi and ride-share industries, under a new city ordinance regulating ride-share services, officials said.

Ride-share companies including Uber X, Lyft and Sidecar have cut into the traditional taxi business by contracting with noncommercial drivers who provide rides in their private vehicles. Customers of the ride-share services use cellphone apps to arrange rides.

Advocates for the disabled community said the planned increase is not enough.

New York's taxi fleet will be 50 percent accessible by 2020, said Gary Arnold, public relations coordinator for Access Living in Chicago.

Tuesday morning at City Hall, taxicab accessibility will be discussed at a joint hearing of the Committee on License and Consumer Protection and the Committee on Human Relations.

Before the hearing, leaders in the disability community, joined by the heads of the council committees , are scheduled to hold a news conference calling for an increase in the number of accessible taxis in Chicago. They will present strategies for reaching the goal, including mandates, incentives, enforcement and new funding sources, supporters of the initiative said.

jhilkevitch@tribune.com

Twitter @jhilkevitch

___

(c)2014 the Chicago Tribune

Visit the Chicago Tribune at www.chicagotribune.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services