Laura
12-15-2010, 09:46 PM
December 15, 2010 3:21 PM
City's disabled hailing $2.25 cab ride
By Jeremy Smerd, Crain's NY Business
Link:
http://shar.es/Xu3Ch
Many disabled New Yorkers will be able to take a taxi for the cost of a
subway ride under the city's new pilot program; transportation authority
picks up the tab after $2.25.
The $2.25 cab ride has arrived for disabled riders.
The city and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority formally announced
Wednesday the launch of a long-anticipated program to offer disabled
riders taxi rides for the price of a subway trip.
The taxi program, first reported by Crain’s this summer, is part of an
ongoing effort to use the city’s taxi and livery infrastructure to reduce
the skyrocketing costs of the state’s federally-mandated Access-a-Ride
program.
Disabled riders will be given prepaid debit cards to use in taxicabs south
of 96th Street in Manhattan. As is the case with any Access-a-Ride trip,
the rider will pay $2.25, the cost of a subway ride, and the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority will pick up the rest of the tab. The average
cost per Access-a-Ride trip ranges between $50 and $60, while a cab ride
from 96th Street to the southern tip of Manhattan is likely to cost half
that. The MTA estimates that an average trip under the pilot program will
cost $15.
The 90-day pilot program, announced Wednesday by Mayor Michael Bloomberg,
MTA Chief Executive Jay Walder and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn,
is expected to save the Access-a-Ride program 70% per trip, and 400
customers will be eligible to enroll.
The MTA’s paratransit costs have more than doubled to $472 million in 2010
from $190 million in 2006. Access-a-Ride costs are expected to grow to
$694 million in 2013—a 47% increase from today—as the city’s elderly
population grows and as more residents become immobilized by chronic
illnesses such as diabetes.
Cabs are ubiquitous below 96th Street in Manhattan, making them a quicker
alternative for Access-a-Ride participants, 80% of whom do not use
wheelchairs.
The program will not be a boon to the city’s approximately 60,000
wheelchair-users, for whom there are only about 240 accessible cabs. They
will continue to rely on the MTA vans equipped with wheelchair lifts.
The city has embarked on a project to redesign its iconic yellow taxi and
last month announced three finalists. Only one manufacturer, Turkish car
maker Karsan, has proposed a Taxi of Tomorrow concept that is
wheelchair-accessible. The Taxi and Limousine Commission has opposed City
Council legislation requiring any new taxi to be wheelchair-accessible.
Mr. Bloomberg proposed using taxi cabs to support the Access-A-Ride
program in his 2009 campaign.
Filed Under :
Christine Quinn, Jay Walder, Metropolitan Transportation Authority,
Michael Bloomberg, Politics, Taxi and Limousine Commission, Transportation
City's disabled hailing $2.25 cab ride
By Jeremy Smerd, Crain's NY Business
Link:
http://shar.es/Xu3Ch
Many disabled New Yorkers will be able to take a taxi for the cost of a
subway ride under the city's new pilot program; transportation authority
picks up the tab after $2.25.
The $2.25 cab ride has arrived for disabled riders.
The city and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority formally announced
Wednesday the launch of a long-anticipated program to offer disabled
riders taxi rides for the price of a subway trip.
The taxi program, first reported by Crain’s this summer, is part of an
ongoing effort to use the city’s taxi and livery infrastructure to reduce
the skyrocketing costs of the state’s federally-mandated Access-a-Ride
program.
Disabled riders will be given prepaid debit cards to use in taxicabs south
of 96th Street in Manhattan. As is the case with any Access-a-Ride trip,
the rider will pay $2.25, the cost of a subway ride, and the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority will pick up the rest of the tab. The average
cost per Access-a-Ride trip ranges between $50 and $60, while a cab ride
from 96th Street to the southern tip of Manhattan is likely to cost half
that. The MTA estimates that an average trip under the pilot program will
cost $15.
The 90-day pilot program, announced Wednesday by Mayor Michael Bloomberg,
MTA Chief Executive Jay Walder and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn,
is expected to save the Access-a-Ride program 70% per trip, and 400
customers will be eligible to enroll.
The MTA’s paratransit costs have more than doubled to $472 million in 2010
from $190 million in 2006. Access-a-Ride costs are expected to grow to
$694 million in 2013—a 47% increase from today—as the city’s elderly
population grows and as more residents become immobilized by chronic
illnesses such as diabetes.
Cabs are ubiquitous below 96th Street in Manhattan, making them a quicker
alternative for Access-a-Ride participants, 80% of whom do not use
wheelchairs.
The program will not be a boon to the city’s approximately 60,000
wheelchair-users, for whom there are only about 240 accessible cabs. They
will continue to rely on the MTA vans equipped with wheelchair lifts.
The city has embarked on a project to redesign its iconic yellow taxi and
last month announced three finalists. Only one manufacturer, Turkish car
maker Karsan, has proposed a Taxi of Tomorrow concept that is
wheelchair-accessible. The Taxi and Limousine Commission has opposed City
Council legislation requiring any new taxi to be wheelchair-accessible.
Mr. Bloomberg proposed using taxi cabs to support the Access-A-Ride
program in his 2009 campaign.
Filed Under :
Christine Quinn, Jay Walder, Metropolitan Transportation Authority,
Michael Bloomberg, Politics, Taxi and Limousine Commission, Transportation