Silver Spring, MD -A planned proposal from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) to contract a successful alternative paratransit program to on-demand providers like Uber or Lyft has transit workers and disability advocates sounding the alarm.
"Every time WMATA management comes to a crossroads on paratransit, their instinct isn't to evaluate their options or carve a new path. It's to drive the whole system off the road and into a tree," said Larry Hanley, International President of the Amalgamated Transit Union. ATU Locals 689 and 1764 represent more than 15,000 transit workers in the region, including MetroAccess employees.
Yesterday, the ATU joined the United Spinal Association, Prince George's Advocates for Community-Based Transit, the Montgomery County Union Taxi Co-Operative, the AFL-CIO, and a growing list of co-signers on a letter expressing grave concerns about WMATA's proposal. The letter points to the controversial records of Lyft and Uber and lays out several proposals to ensure any agreement with such providers protects workers and riders.
The proposals include:
- Prioritizing access for all and ensuring adequate numbers of wheelchair accessible vehicles are available.
- Prioritize working conditions of their drivers and other workers, as well as prioritizing the hiring of MetroAccess workers displaced by the shift to taxi or TNC-based drivers.
- Prioritizing compliance with the ADA, a major issue in light of ongoing litigation against transport network companies.
"You have a public agency hiring a company that spends every single day in the courtroom arguing that they shouldn’t have to provide accessible rides, basic employee protections, or abide by local laws meant to guarantee either those things," Hanley continued. "What message is WMATA trying to send to their workers and the seniors and people with disabilities who rely on these services to live their lives every day?"
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, WMATA must provide door-to-door paratransit service for riders with disabilities, which the agency has done since the early 1990s through its MetroAccess service. Poor funding, mismanagement by private contractors, and workers forced to toil at poverty wages, however, have left MetroAccess service in decline for years. Workers rarely make enough to afford the cost of living in the capital region, and riders regularly face hours-long journeys just to pick up groceries or visit a doctor's office.
To address some rider concerns, WMATA and the District of Columbia recently teamed up with local taxi companies to create Transport DC, a program that dispatches accessible taxi cabs to provide paratransit service in the District. According to advocates, the program has far exceeded ridership expectations, and discussions have been had to create similar programs in surrounding jurisdictions like Montgomery County and Prince George’s County.
Under the proposal in question, WMATA would shift any programs similar to Transport DC in those jurisdictions from taxi providers to a transport network company, with Uber or Lyft being highly considered.
In addition to the joint letter, the coalition submitted statements in front of the WMATA Board of Directors meeting on January 28.