2019 District of Columbia Code
Title 50 - Motor and Non-Motor Vehicles and Traffic.
Chapter 3 - Regulation of Taxicabs.
Subchapter I - General.
§ 50–301.25a. Accessibility of digital dispatch for individuals with disabilities.
(a) By January 1, 2016, a company that provides digital dispatch shall:
(1) Ensure that the company’s websites and mobile applications are accessible to the blind and visually impaired and the deaf and hard of hearing; and
(2) Provide a report to the Council’s Committee on Transportation and the Environment, or its successor committee with oversight of for-hire vehicles, on how the company intends to increase access to wheelchair-accessible public or private vehicle-for-hire service to individuals with disabilities.
(b) A company that provides digital dispatch shall not:
(1) Impose additional or special charges on an individual with a disability for providing services to accommodate the individual; or
(2) Require an individual with a disability to be accompanied by an attendant.
(b-1) A company that provides digital dispatch shall, within 180 days of April 7, 2017, provide passengers with the ability to request a wheelchair-accessible vehicle. If the company cannot fulfill the request for a wheelchair-accessible vehicle through the company's digital dispatch, the company may refer the requestor to a company or other provider that can fulfill a request for wheelchair-accessible service.
(c) If an operator accepts a ride request through digital dispatch from a passenger with a disability who uses a mobility device, upon picking up the passenger, the operator shall stow the passenger’s mobility equipment in the vehicle if the vehicle is capable of stowing the equipment. If a passenger or operator determines that the vehicle is not capable of stowing the equipment, the company that provides digital dispatch shall not charge a trip cancellation fee or, if such fee is charged, shall provide the passenger with a refund in a timely manner.
(Mar. 25, 1986, D.C. Law 6-97, § 20f-1; as added Mar. 10, 2015, D.C. Law 20-197, § 2(h), 61 DCR 12430; Apr. 7, 2017, D.C. Law 21-242, § 2(c), 64 DCR 1608.)
Editor's NotesApplicability of D.C. Law 20-197: Section 7 of D.C. Law 20-197 provided, in part, that §§ 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the act shall apply as of March 10, 2015.
