Of 1,600 cabs in Philly, only three - count 'em, three - are wheelchair-accessible.
I left the hearings, conducted by the Philadelphia Parking Authority (which oversees city taxi operations), with two convictions:
That the able-bodied should give daily thanks for their physical good fortune. And that taxi access for all is entirely doable.
Taxi drivers, lawyers for taxi associations, cab-company owners and manufacturers of wheelchair-friendly vehicles all sounded eager to work with the disabled and with the PPA to get more handicapped-accessible cabs on the street. (Have I noted that there are only three?)
Yet yesterday's hearing at the Pennsylvania Convention Center appeared to be the first time that all these folks were in the same room to discuss how that might happen.
And, oh, were they worried.
They'd gathered in response to the PPA's proposal that at least 300 city cabs be wheelchair-accessible by the end of 2012; by the end of 2016, accessibility would be required of all 1,600.
Yet, the PPA had offered no numbers to support that order. For example, one of the city's three wheelchair-accessible taxis gets fewer than 10 jobs per week. Is that because there's little need? Or because no one knows how to access the cabs?
It would be helpful to know, since the cost of retrofitting 1,600 cabs (upwards of $15,000 per vehicle) or replacing them ($30,000 to $40,000 a pop) is staggering.
More profitable cab companies might be able to afford that investment, but smaller companies would be run out of business. Besides, many companies use their valuable taxi medallions as collateral on bank loans; retrofitting or replacing vehicles would throw those loans into jeopardy.
Ironically, said Jordan Rand, attorney for Germantown Cab Co., a nonmedallion operation, the cost of the proposed change would no doubt require owners to lobby the PPA for a fare increase. And that would hit hard Germantown's low-income clientele.
