Two mates can share a taxi and break up the fare, however the identical possibility just isn’t accessible to most wheelchair customers — significantly if one or each use a big energy wheelchair.

Once I wrote about how wheelchair taxis are disappearing and the prospect to share ideas with the Nationwide Council on Incapacity, I hadn’t thought-about the attitude of households or pal teams the place a number of wheelchair customers are current. Getting a wheelchair taxi for one wheelchair person is tough sufficient, however getting two wheelchair taxis on the identical time is subsequent to inconceivable in nearly each American metropolis.

I not too long ago confronted this problem myself, as I used to be within the distinctive place of getting to move myself and my wheelchair, in addition to my back-up wheelchair, throughout city on the identical time. I first thought-about non-emergency medical transportation, since these lift-equipped automobiles can usually transport two wheelchairs. The issue, in fact, was the value — a number of hundred {dollars}, whereas the price of a single taxi would have been about $25.

Fortunately, Boston, Massachusetts is a metropolis that’s serviced not solely by conventional wheelchair taxis, but additionally wheelchair accessible rideshare providers offered by Uber and Lyft. Whereas none of these firms supply automobiles able to transporting two energy wheelchairs, I surmised that I may order two automobiles on the identical time — paying double the price that nondisabled riders sharing a cab would, however nonetheless a lot lower than if I had booked non-emergency medical transportation.

It’s not doable to order two Ubers or two Lyft rides on the identical time from the identical cellphone, however you possibly can order one among every. I used to be capable of time the rides shut collectively, and two wheelchair accessible vans arrived inside a pair minutes of one another.

When the primary driver arrived (David with Lyft), I defined what I used to be doing, and we loaded my back-up wheelchair into his accessible van. He secured the unoccupied wheelchair, then waited for me to load up within the UberWAV van earlier than departing.

What I hadn’t thought-about was that Uber and Lyft may plot a special course to my vacation spot, and that’s simply what occurred. The Lyft arrived a couple of minutes earlier than my Uber, and I pulled up simply because the Lyft driver was wheeling my chair onto the curb. It was a painless expertise, and each drivers obtained a kick out of my ingenious plan. I tipped them each effectively for his or her cooperation.

Boston is one among solely a handful of cities on the planet the place a visit like that is doable utilizing Uber and Lyft, so I used to be in fact very fortunate. Rideshare providers are hardly ever accessible, and we should always not cease advocating for wheelchair accessibility wherever Uber and Lyft function — it needs to be mandated on the federal stage as a part of the Individuals with Disabilities Act.

In cities with out Uber and Lyft, riders may look to native cab firms, or maybe these with side-entry wheelchair vans. In a side-entry wheelchair van, two wheelchairs can really match — I’ve finished this in each my very own wheelchair van (situated in Florida), and in a pal’s accessible van. It takes some finesse to maneuver two energy wheelchairs into place, however it might be doable relying on the scale of the wheelchairs. I’m undecided if a taxi driver would have permitted it (they don’t sometimes have two units of securement straps), however the level was moot since all wheelchair taxis in Boston are rear-entry.

One other cost-effective possibility could be paratransit, since these providers usually have house for a number of wheelchairs. I’m undecided if native insurance policies would have permitted the carriage of a back-up wheelchair, and I’m not registered with paratransit, so I didn’t examine that query. Paratransit can accommodate a number of wheelchair customers touring collectively in lots of jurisdictions, in order that’s one thing to remember.

Have you ever confronted challenges find transportation for 2 wheelchair customers on the identical time? What have you ever finished to resolve for the issue? Do you assume extra laws are essential to require house for 2 wheelchairs in a wheelchair taxi? Let me know your ideas within the feedback under.