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

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

A federal judge ruled this week that the federal law prohibiting discrimination against disabled individuals does not apply to the decision of the ride-sharing company.

The ride-sharing service has been criticized by disability advocates for only providing limited wheelchair-accessible service in a few cities.

Two motorized wheelchair users, one in New Orleans, Louisiana, and the other in Jackson, Mississippi, sued the company over the lack of accessible service in the two cities. Wheelchairs can't be folded and put in a trunk. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibits discrimination against people based on their disabilities.

It would be difficult to offer wheelchair service in every city, according to the company. The company estimated that it would cost $800,000 in New Orleans, or about $400 per ride, and $550,000 in Jackson, or about $1,000 per ride.

The Chief Judge of the federal court in San Francisco ruled that there was no evidence that the service could be cost effective. The wait times for disabled passengers would be significant even if the company spent the money to make their services wheelchair accessible.

The judge ruled that the proposed modification was not reasonable because of the high anticipated cost.

The show_temp is on Scribd.

Part of the argument was rejected. The company said that it wasn't allowed to provide wheelchair-accessible service in every market because it already provided it in other cities.

The language of the fair share implies that WAV users are due a finite number of resources. The ADA does not adopt such an approach.

Carissa said that they were proud of their efforts to improve accessibility for all users. The lawyers did not reply to the request.

There are two rulings this month related to the service. The company settled a lawsuit with the US Department of Justice over allegations of discrimination. As part of the agreement, the company will double the total wait fees issued to the 65,000 disabled riders already identified by their programs and commit more than $2 million to funds for other affected individuals.