STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7833--A
IN SENATE
March 1, 2018
___________
Introduced by Sens. GOLDEN, SEPULVEDA -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation --
committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in
relation to taxi and limousine services equipped with wheelchair
accessible vehicles
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Legislative findings. The legislature finds and declares
2 that the public health, safety and welfare of New Yorkers who use wheel-
3 chairs traveling to, from and within the city of New York is a matter of
4 substantial state concern, including access to safe and reliable mass
5 transportation such as for-hire-vehicles. The majority of residents and
6 non-residents of the city of New York who use wheelchairs do not
7 currently have efficient access to accessible for-hire-vehicles in the
8 city of New York. The legislature finds and declares that is it a matter
9 of public health, safety and welfare to ensure adequate and reliable
10 accessible transportation to disabled individuals that use wheelchairs
11 in the city of New York. Additionally, New York city has grappled with
12 the issue of providing efficient for-hire-vehicle service to people who
13 use wheelchairs for decades. Unfortunately, it efforts have proven an
14 abject failure as its rules and regulations fail to comport with the
15 business structure of the fore-hire-vehicle model. This failure has
16 manifested itself in the inability to achieve equivalent services, as
17 admitted by the TLC commissioner. This legislative initiative creates a
18 system that has proven successful in other states in providing people
19 who use wheelchairs with transportation. Moreover, this legislation uses
20 a similar model to that the TLC has implemented for the yellow taxi
21 system.
22 § 2. The administrative code of the city of New York is amended by
23 adding a new section 19-548 to read as follows:
24 § 19-548 For-hire accessible wheelchair transportation. a. The New
25 York city taxi and limousine commission is authorized to promulgate such
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10233-02-8
S. 7833--A 2
1 rules and regulations as it shall deem necessary to implement the
2 provisions of this section.
3 b. The New York city taxi and limousine commission shall contract with
4 one entity to provide wheelchair accessible vehicles through a central
5 dispatch service. Such dispatch service shall be responsible for provid-
6 ing for-hire wheelchair accessible transportation.
7 c. The New York city for-hire bases, as defined by regulations of the
8 New York city taxi and limousine commission, shall not be subject to New
9 York city taxi and limousine commission regulations related to accessi-
10 ble vehicles for disabled passengers.
11 d. The New York city taxi and limousine commission shall issue an
12 annual report regarding the efficacy of the central dispatch service in
13 providing people who use wheelchairs with for-hire-vehicle transporta-
14 tion. Such report shall include metrics describing number of rides in
15 each borough and time between dispatch and pickup of passengers.
16 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
17 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend-
18 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
19 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and
20 completed on or before such date.
