Uber doesn’t have to provide wheelchair-accessible vehicles in every city, judge rules - The Verge

Uber is not in violation of the federal law prohibiting discrimination against wheelchair users by not providing Uber WAV service in every city, a judge ruled.

Uber’s decision to not offer wheelchair-accessible service in every US market does not violate the federal law prohibiting discrimination against disabled individuals, a federal judge ruled this week.

The ruling represents a win for the ride-hailing service, which has been criticized by disability advocates for providing only limited wheelchair-accessible service in a handful of cities.

Two motorized wheelchair users, one in New Orleans, Louisiana, and the other in Jackson, Mississippi, sued Uber over the lack of accessible service in either city. Both plaintiffs use wheelchairs that can’t be folded and placed in a trunk. They claimed that Uber was in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which prohibits businesses from discriminating against people based on their disabilities.

Uber argued it would be prohibitively expensive to offer wheelchair service in every city. The company estimated “bare minimum” annual costs of $800,000 in New Orleans, or about $400 per ride, and $550,000 in Jackson, or about $1,000 per ride, by partnering with commercial providers of wheelchair-accessible vehicles.

Chief Judge Richard Seeborg of the federal court in San Francisco agreed, ruling that the plaintiffs provided “scant evidence” that Uber could run a cost-effective wheelchair-accessible service in either city. Even if Uber spent the money to launch wheelchair-accessible services, wait times for disabled passengers would be “significant,” Seeborg wrote.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/26/23279408/uber-wheelchair-accessible-service-judge-ruling-ada

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