Ride share services led by companies like Uber and Lyft are failing disabled riders, despite reporting $15 billion in profits in 2024, according to a report by New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI) last month.
There are roughly 1 million NYC residents living with a disability, according to the most recent statistics released by the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities.
The NYPLI report — Left Behind Across New York State — states that only 7% of New York City’s fleet of 106,000 for-hire vehicles (FHVs) had wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAVs), forcing wheelchair users to wait significantly longer — over twice the wait time — than other users that did not have special accessibility needs…