"San Antonio airport ban lifted for cabs for disabled"

Tuesday, March 1, 2005

Airport ban lifted for cabs for disabled 
By Patrick Driscoll
The San Antonio (TX) Express-News
 

A city attorney who wrote an ordinance banning taxis with disability permits
from queuing up at the airport said Monday that the rule violates federal
and state disability laws. 

So, after several months of outcries from cabbies driving
wheelchair-equipped vans, the ban has been scrapped, city attorney Chuck
Weir told the transportation advisory board. 

"Well, all's well that ends well," board member David Frost said after
hearing the news. 

The ordinance, passed by City Council in 2001, was meant to keep wheelchair
vans circulating on city streets and not waiting in line at San Antonio
International Airport, where making money is easier, city officials said. 

However, the city mistakenly issued airport permits to taxi operators
holding disability permits. Eventually, some in the industry complained that
wheelchair-van drivers parking at the airport were refusing calls from
disabled patrons in other parts of the city. 

The city looked into it, sought advice from legal staff and on Jan. 1 ended
airport stickers for all 23 wheelchair vans. Drivers of those vans could
serve the airport only when called. 

Some drivers who made the expensive investment to install wheelchair ramps
in their vans questioned the fairness of the about-face. 

Disability advocates questioned whether it discriminated against wheelchair
users at the airport. 

"You need to allow the same (access) for the airport," Eddie Massón of
Help4Disabled told the transportation advisory board Monday. 

Last month, City Councilman Julián Castro told staff to come up with a
compromise. City attorneys took another look, and found that banning
wheelchair vans from the airport violates the Americans with Disabilities
Act and the Texas Municipal Code. 

"It should have never happened," said taxi driver Adri Skye, the most vocal
critic of the city's ban. 

Weir said he was only following the board's instructions when he crafted the
ordinance. 

"I was told to write it that way," he said. 

But not all of those who served on the advisory board when the rule was
passed agreed. Board member Mada Calk said wheelchair vans were never
supposed to be restricted from lining up at the airport. 

"We made it very clear," she said. 

Meanwhile, Yellow Checker Cab might not let its 14 wheelchair vans get
airport permits. 

"They need to be out there on the streets," President Mike Barnard said.


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