Uber Sued Over Lack Of Accessible Rides   
      
   by Mary Wisniewski, Chicago Tribune/TNS | October 14, 2016   
      
   CHICAGO - A Chicago-area disability rights group sued the ride-hailing service   
   Uber on Thursday, asserting that the company did not provide enough vehicles   
   that can handle wheelchairs.   
      
   The lawsuit, filed in Chicago federal court on behalf of Access Living of   
   Metropolitan Chicago and three named individuals, wants an order to force Uber   
   to provide more wheelchair-accessible vehicles under the Americans With   
   Disabilities Act.   
      
   The lawsuit claimed that though Uber provided nearly 2 million rides in Chicago   
   in June 2015 alone; from September 2011, when it started operating in Chicago,   
   until August 2015, the company provided only 14 rides to motorized wheelchair   
   users who require wheelchair-accessible vehicles.   
      
   "I have a lot of non-disabled friends," said plaintiff Justin Cooper, 34, of   
   Lincoln Park, who uses a motorized wheelchair. "I can't travel to places with   
   them because I don't have accessible service from Uber."   
      
   A spokeswoman for San Francisco-based Uber Technologies Inc. didn't have an   
   immediate comment.   
      
   Steven Blonder, a lawyer for the firm of Much Shelist, which filed the lawsuit,   
   said one of the benefits of Uber as opposed to cabs is the ease of use and cost   
   to the average consumer.   
      
   "The benefits the everyday consumer gets from Uber aren't available for   
   everyone," Blonder said. "So whole classes of people get shut out."   
      
   Cooper said that he sometimes used wheelchair-accessible cabs, but that they   
   could be expensive.   
      
   "We're looking to Uber to stand up to make the commitment to wheelchair users   
   it provides to everyone else," Blonder said. Asked why the lawsuit did not   
   include the Lyft or Via ride-hailing services, Blonder said Uber was the   
   largest provider in Chicago, though his firm is looking at the other services.   
      
   Access Living had supported a proposed city ordinance intended to impose   
   stricter rules on ride-share services, said the group's attorney, Charles   
   Petrof. The original version of the ordinance would have required that 5   
   percent of Uber's fleet be wheelchair-accessible, and that the service be   
   equivalent to other Uber service in terms of time and cost, Petrof said.   
      
   But the watered-down version of the ordinance that passed the City Council in   
   June did not include mention of equivalent services for those with   
   disabilities, Petrof said.   
      
   Petrof said he was aware of one other lawsuit against Uber and Lyft involving   
   wheelchair accessible vehicles, filed in Texas last year, but it was settled   
   and no widely applicable policy resulted from it.   
      
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