Report: Uber and Lyft riders in NYC have to wait twice as long for wheelchair-accessible rides

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In a new report from the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI), ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft are failing at meeting the demands of the city’s riders that require wheelchair-accessible rides.

The biggest takeaway from the report is that those looking for wheelchair-accessible rides have an estimated wait time that is twice as long as those looking for rides without accessibility needs on both Uber and Lyft. Lyft also is guilty of being unable to even place rides for users with accessibility needs on 38% of trips.

“While the multi-billion-dollar for-hire vehicle industry pursues ever greater capital and profits through Wall Street IPOs, it continues to leave New Yorkers with disabilities far behind, without giving them fair and equal transportation options,” said Justin Wood, Director of Organizing and Strategic Research at NYLPI.

Besides that fact that this is unacceptable, new laws are also looking to address the issue

New laws coming from New York City mean that companies like Uber and Lyft will be required to do better at serving those that need accessible vehicles. This law will require that companies fulfill 60% of requests for wheelchair-accessible vehicles within 15 minutes, which, according to the report, just isn’t happening yet.

Both Lyft and Uber have been working on improving this aspect, so time will tell if the companies will be able to meet the demands in NYC. Now, the question remains, how is it for people in other, smaller cities?

What do you think? Is this something you have dealt with when using Lyft or Uber? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Josiah Motley

Former KnowTechie editor.