(washington, DC) The DC Taxicab Commission (DCTC) announces the availability of funds for taxicab companies to bring wheelchair-accessible taxicabs to the District of Columbia, one of the few major cities without this service. The Commission will make grants or loans for up to $200,000 to encourage the purchase, operation and use of wheelchair-accessible taxicabs as authorized by the recently passed Wheelchair-Accessible Taxicab Promotion Fund Act of 2007, sponsored by Councilmember Jim Graham.
The Taxicab Commission plans to use these District funds to help taxicab companies meet the match required for the approximately $1.65 million in federal funds in the New Freedom program administered by the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB) of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG).
“These District funds will help bring a major, much-needed addition to our taxi service,” said Leon J. Swain, chair of the Taxicab Commission. “We will work with the companies, the TPB and the DC Office of Disability Rights (ODR) to bring wheelchair-accessible cabs to our streets as soon as possible.”
Eve Hill, director of the Office of Disability Rights, said “Because a wheelchair-accessible taxi will work just like a traditional cab, it will not require a prior reservation or have eligibility restrictions as MetroAccess does. It will meet the major unmet demand for accessible local cabs above and beyond what MetroAccess now offers. These taxis will promote employment, tourism and overall freedom for people with disabilities.”
The Taxicab Commission will accept applications for District funds through a Request for Applications (RFA) to be issued shortly. This is separate from the New Freedom application.
A pre-application conference for the New Freedom solicitation will be held on Wednesday, March 26, 2008, from 10:00 am to 11:30 am in Meeting Room 1 at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, located at 777 North Capitol Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002. Questions about New Freedom will be answered at this meeting; more information is available at www.tpbcoordination.org.