PHOENIX — A major Arizona taxi firm has agreed to stop charging an additional fee for accessible van customers.
The Arizona Center for Disability Law says that Total Transit Inc. will no longer impose that $10 charge for an “on-demand van.” Rose Daly-Rooney, the organization’s legal director, told Capitol Media Services the move ends a 2015 lawsuit filed against the company accusing it of illegal discrimination against those with disabilities.
There was no immediate response from the attorney for the company, though federal court records say there was an agreement which was sealed as confidential.
That deal, the court file says, does mean each side will bear its own legal fees.
And Daly-Rooney said there was no admission of guilt. This deal affects only Total Transit and its companies, including NExT, the National Express Transit corp. But Daly-Rooney said she believes it will serve as a wake-up call for other taxi firms that still try to charge extra for people who need an accessible van.
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The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two individuals who use power wheelchairs and the Paralyzed Veterans of America.
Attorneys said their clients require a taxi that has a ramp or lift to be able to get in. They said the company, operating at the time under the name Discount Cab, provided them — but only if the customer paid that $10 charge for each trip.
That, they argued, violates state and federal disability laws.
Total Transit, which now operates as Total Ride, fought back, filing a counterclaim saying that barring it from charging the fees to customers with disabilities “would adversely affect” the company’s business.
The firm’s attorney said his client might simply decide the best way to avoid being accused of charging a discriminatory fee might be to not provide on-demand services at all.
He argued — and the challengers did not dispute — that nothing in the law requires Total Transit to have such vehicles.
Daly-Rooney said the issue from her organization’s perspective is even more basic than that.
“There is a duty to provide reasonable modifications,” she said. “One of those would be to waive a generally applicable fee when it’s an extra charge for people with disabilities.”
She said it’s no different than a hotel that might charge an extra cleaning fee for someone with a pet.
“But they would need to waive that for people with disabilities who have a service animal,” Daly-Rooney said.
In agreeing to the settlement, she said, Total Transit did not admit that they had done anything improper but simply agreed to drop the fee.
Daly-Rooney said eliminating the fee — $20 for any round trip — is an important victory for those with disabilities.
“It really minimized the amount of times people could take a taxi,” she said. “Taxis can be convenient compared to paratransit (shared-ride services) and some other forms of transportation.”
Bill Stokes, one of the plaintiffs, said in a prepared statement that eliminating the charge makes a difference to those who need accessible vans.
“Ending the $10 fee adds up to more trips to go out and enjoy a good meal, go to the barbershop, or catch a movie with your family and friends,” he said in a prepared statement.
Daly-Rooney said there are other taxi and transit companies that are still charging additional fees.
“We hope that this settlement may lead others to voluntarily drop their fees,” she said, saying her organization will now be reaching out to them asking that they take similar action.
That was also the sentiment expressed by Peter Quinn, executive director of the Paralyzed Veterans Association whose organization serves military veterans who endure injuries and diseases of the spinal cord.
“We hope that other retail taxi services will follow TTI’s move and end similar fees,” he said in his own statement.
