Q&A
Progress and challenges in achieving 50% wheelchair accessible yellow taxi fleet
1:04:18
ยท
158 sec
Council Member Narcisse inquires about the city's progress towards having 50% of the active yellow taxi fleet wheelchair accessible by the March 31, 2025 deadline. Commissioner Do responds with current statistics and outlines challenges and strategies.
- Current progress: 44.8% of the fleet is wheelchair accessible for the 2025 deadline
- Bigger challenge: Only 30% progress towards the 2028 court-mandated order for the entire authorized fleet
- Strategies: Upfront payments, adding more vehicle converters, making conversions more accessible to individual drivers
Mercedes Narcisse
1:04:18
Not your fault like I mean actually, but with the 03/31/2025 deadline right, approaching, how close is the city is, to I mean how close is the city to reaching the goal of having 50% of the active yellow taxi fleet wheelchair accessible?
1:04:37
And what challenges remain, in meeting this, requirement?
David Do
1:04:43
Yeah.
1:04:44
Well, council member Narcisse, thank you so much for your commitment, and your work, for a better for hire industry.
1:04:50
I really appreciate that.
1:04:52
I think to your first point, is that, you know, this was a, we wanna provide relief for for drivers, with their vehicle retirement extensions.
1:05:04
But to meet the court mandated order, we can't do that any we can't do VREs as, as much as I want, right, to support, our drivers and our yellow industry.
1:05:17
And so, you know, we're we're we're getting closer.
1:05:21
We're at 44.8%, of the fleet, for March of twenty twenty five.
1:05:28
What is going to be more hard is the court, mandated order, for 2028.
1:05:38
Are only about 30% of the way there for the entire authorized fleet.
1:05:44
And so, you know, there is going to be a lot of work that I need to do, with our industry to ensure that we have a pathway there.
1:05:54
And that's why we're looking for at a variety of different, changes to the program so that more drivers can have more up front price, more up front payments and their hack up costs so that they can actually afford, these vehicles, wheelchair accessible vehicles that may cost upwards of 75,000.
1:06:16
We've also worked hard to get more, converters into this, into the yellow space.
1:06:25
And we have recently added two more converters, that meet drivers where they are.
1:06:29
Right?
1:06:29
And what I mean by that, is that, you know, typically fleets have advantages when they do big purchase orders.
1:06:37
In this case, the the converters will take on one vehicle, convert that vehicle, instead of, them having to go to other states like Indiana, that they can go somewhere closer like, the suburbs of Philly.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
1:06:54
Thank you.