Equal Rights Center and Uber Reach Agreement on Availability And Safety of Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles in D.C.

Today, the Equal Rights Center (ERC) and Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber) announced that they have agreed on a plan through which Uber will undertake certain actions in an effort to facilitate enhanced availability and safety of rides for users of the Uber Rideshare marketplace using wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAVs) in Washington, DC. The agreement represents a mutual attempt to resolve litigation over the availability and response times of WAV rides requested using the Uber Rideshare marketplace in the District of Columbia. As part of this effort, for the next 18 months:

  • Uber will provide a monetary incentive per completed trip to drivers who provide a completed trip that is initiated or completed in Uber’s D.C. market, in a rented or personally owned WAV on Uber’s WAV platform;
  • Uber will provide a one-time monetary incentive to each driver in the District of Columbia who completes a first trip initiated or completed in Uber’s D.C. market on the WAV platform;
  • For prospective drivers in the District of Columbia who want to onboard rented or personally owned WAVs, Uber will direct the prospective drivers to resources for completing WAV passenger securement training (training on ensuring the safety of passengers in wheelchairs and the proper securing of wheelchairs in the vehicle); and
  • Uber will require drivers in the District of Columbia to provide proof of completion of WAV passenger securement training in order to complete onboarding as a WAV driver and accept WAV requests.

The agreement and steps described above may result in the dismissal of the lawsuit. More information about the litigation is available here.

ERC Executive Director Kate Scott comments “Being able to reliably and safely travel from one place to another is something that many of us are able to take for granted, but we hear regularly from members that transportation options for wheelchair users in the District remain very limited. As such, we are hopeful that the effort we’re announcing today with Uber will help better meet some of our community’s transportation needs.”

The ERC is represented in the lawsuit by the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs and Relman Colfax PLLC.

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