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Accessibility in Big Cities

Accessible Travel — on December 8, 2009 12:07 pm

Being in a wheelchair doesn’t mean you have to forego visiting big cities. While public transit in these places might be difficult to maneuver, there are options available.

New York City and Chicago both operate accessible dispatch systems for their city cabs.

In New York, passengers needing a ride can simply call 311 to arrange a pickup, and in Chicago you can dial an 800 number to ask for an appropriate vehicle.

Or you can call a cab company directly that specializes in transporting the disabled.

In New York, A Ride For All operates a fleet of vehicles equipped to pick up wheelchair users 24/7.

Most other cities, such as San Francisco, Miami and Indianapolis, have traditional cab companies whose fleets include wheelchair-accessible vehicles available upon request.

And getting to and from the airport doesn’t have to be a hassle either.

SuperShuttle, the airport shuttle service found in 13 states, has vehicles equipped to transport wheelchair users and disabled people with service dogs to and from airports.

In most cases, for transportation TO the airport, you must make advance reservations, but to get FROM the airport you can just grab the first available van.

Find out more in our Accessible Travel section.

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  • Miranda

    During my recent trip to NYC, I was extremely excited to use the 311 system to obtain a cab because I knew that my the battery in my wheelchair would not be able to hold up to the walking that we would be doing. However, I was deeply disappointed with the results. At 2pm I called the 311 system to have a cab dispatched to the Macy’s. By 4pm, no cab had arrived even though numerous wheelchair accessible cabs drove by us but didn’t stop. Numerous calls to customer service got us nowhere. At this point we decided to begin the walk back to the hotel and those with me decided to take turns pushing my wheelchair if the battery died on our 12 block walk. When we arrived at the hotel I called customer service to cancel my request. At 6:30pm I received a call telling me that the cab would be pulling up to Macy’s in 10 minutes. Although it is noble that NYC is attempting to create a system that they believe is sufficient for those with disabilities, it falls far short for those who are in need. The rest of the trip we hired private cars but the cost was close to $1000 and we had to schedule each trip a day in advance, leaving no room for spur of the moment trips to Chelsea or downtown.