"This proposal will catapult the city from the back of the pack to the front of the pack," said Rocco Iacullo, a lawyer with Philadelphia-based Disability Rights Network, who uses a wheelchair.
Until the three accessible taxis made it to the streets in the fall, Philadelphia was one of only 10 major U.S. cities that did not have wheelchair-friendly cabs.
Temple University law student Dynah Haubert, 28, said she often leaves the library late at night and must wait for the bus, sometimes in the rain and snow, because her chair prohibits her from hailing a cab.
"It would enable me to travel the same way that my classmates can," she told the hearing's moderator, James Ney, director of the Parking Authority's Taxicab and Limousine Division.
While most speakers supported the proposal, opponents raised concerns over the fairness of the lottery system; the costs, $15,000 to $40,000, for retrofitting or replacing taxis; and the coordination necessary to dispatch accessible cabs from multiple companies.
Danielle Friedman of the Pennsylvania Taxi Association said altering the vehicles would change the nature of the medallion, which is a permit the city grants to each taxi allowing it to operate. This would in turn affect the loans that Taxi Association estimates 98 percent of taxis have borrowed to pay for the medallions, which cost $400,000 each.
James Ney, director of the Parking Authority's taxicab and limousine division, said the proposal was only a draft and all aspects of it are subject to change before it is submitted for approval in Harrisburg.
"We're going to evaluate all of the comments," he said following the hearing. The Parking Authority received about 100 written comments.
Ney said no formal announcements will be made until the end of March, when the Parking Authority holds its next board meeting.
Contact staff writer Liz Gormisky at 215-854-5626 or lgormisky@philly.com.
