MTA To Test Ride-Hailing App For Riders With Disabilities

NEW YORK, NY — Getting a ride is about to get easier for a few of New York City's commuters with disabilities. The MTA is preparing to test a program that will let people in its Access-A-Ride program hail a taxi from their smartphones, the agency announced Wednesday.

Starting Nov. 29, 200 Access-A-Ride users will get access to a service allowing them to call a ride immediately or reserve one up to a day in advance for the same price as a MetroCard swipe, the MTA said.

Half the pilot group will order rides through an app on a customized smartphone, while the other half can call a dedicated line at the MTA's Paratransit call center to get a ride from one of 13,500 participating taxis, the MTA said.

"We’ve been working hard to improve the quality of service and convenience for Paratransit riders, using advanced technologies from the private sector and incorporating feedback from our customers,” MTA President Patrick Foye said in a statement. "Real-time, on-demand, GPS-based trip booking and tracking will bring significant improvements to the Paratransit experience."

The MTA will collect feedback on the on-demand service through surveys and focus groups, the agency said.

The ride-hailing pilot program will affect a tiny fraction of Access-A-Ride's disabled riders. The program gives 144,000 people about 6 million rides annually, according to a 2016 Citizens Budget Commission report.

The MTA plans to expand pool of on-demand riders and by mid-2018 will launch a revamped Paratransit app. It'll allow riders to more easily schedule rides, track vehicles and give feedback, the agency said.

California-based technology company Verifone is developing both apps for the MTA under an $11.6 million contract, which the MTA Board approved this summer.

The MTA launched an online Access-A-Ride booking service last year, though riders must still schedule rides one or two days in advance. Riders have booked 122,500 rides through that service, which has generated positive feedback, the MTA said.

Disability advocates said the city's paucity of wheelchair-accessible taxis could hurt the program, despite the convenience of on-demand paratransit ride-hailing. They're especially scarce in the outer boroughs and more remote sections of Manhattan, advocates said.

"This program does nothing to make more cabs accessible," said Robert Schoenfeld, a board member of the activist group Disabled In Action. "It simply puts a load on the existing ones, an additional load which they may not be able to handle."

(Lead image: A woman in a wheelchair rolls past a proposed taxi ramp designed for people with disabilities at the first annual Disability Pride Parade on July 12, 2015 in New York City. Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)