NEW YORK CITY — A disability advocacy group is urging a state lawmaker to vote against a bill that will allow ridesharing apps like Uber to expand statewide, saying the companies "openly discriminate" against wheelchair users.
James Weisman, CEO of the United Spinal Association, sent the letter to State Sen. Tony Avella last week after he was appointed as vice chair of the state senate's transportation committee.
"Simply put, no corporation should be allowed to openly discriminate against hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who use wheelchairs by not being required to provide any accessible vehicles," Weisman wrote in the letter to Avella, who is a co-sponsor of a Senate bill that seeks to allow companies like Uber and Lyft to expand throughout the state.
It's the latest in a fight against the taxi company from disabled riders who say the group doesn't adhere to laws that cab services must be handicap accessible.
The Spinal Association slammed the company in ads over the summer, criticizing drivers for not stopping for wheelchair passengers.
Weisman, who has fought for accessibility in buses, subway and yellow cabs over more than three decades, said if Uber wants to be the future of transportation, it needs to take disabled riders into consideration.
"Uber might be terrific and Uber might be the real 'Taxi of Tomorrow,'" he added. "If they are the future it has to take people with disabilities."
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While Uber offers UberWAV — which connects wheelchair riders to taxis — it only connects them with yellow or green cabs that the private company "is simultaneously undermining," Weisman said.
A spokeswoman for Uber said the company is working to make their app "accessible for anyone wanting a safe, reliable and convenient way to get around - whether visually-impaired, hard of hearing or a wheelchair user."
The company touted its special features for the visually impaired and deaf riders, and is "constantly innovating and exploring new ways to better serve all people with disabilities," she said.
A spokesman for Avella did not respond to a request for comment.
