[NAGDU] Rideshare denials

[Lyn Gwizdak]

Richard, I've got another remedy for ya. How about JAIL TIME for both
company owners and drivers. Six months in the clink might make a huge
impression on what happens when you flout the law. First time, a very stern
warning then jail time after that. Maybe if enough disruption in service to
incontinence able-bodied people might convince them that bigotry against
disabled people may not be such a great idea. Enough is enough.

Lyn and retired Aristotle

On Sat, May 25, 2024, 8:18 AM Al Elia via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Fellow NAGDU members,
>
> I want everyone to know that NFB has been working and continues to work
> with the rideshare companies to address the problem of denials. You have
> all heard me talk about the SelfID system that we proposed to them, and
> that they are investigating how to implement. I hope that we will hear
> from at least one of them this summer on a timeline for implementation.
> While it will not solve all of our problems overnight, we believe it
> will be more effective and less burdensome on us as riders than the
> current denial reporting/investigation system. We also believe the
> differences between our proposed  SelfID system and the one Uber
> implemented elsewhere in 2021 will lead to greater reductions in denials
> and a better rider experience when denials occur.
>
> An Uber representative  will be presenting at our convention in Orlando
> to both the NAGDU seminar and business meeting, as well as holding a
> town-hall session for all NFB members. We expect them to tell us about
> their recent, current, and future plans to address denials and
> accessibility. We hope the NAGDU and NFB membership will respectfully
> but firmly encourage them to do more and move more quickly.
>
> As a result of our advocacy, both Uber and Lyft have improved their
> driver education around service animals. We know that education will not
> itself  solve the denials problem, but we believe it is important to
> assure that drivers understand the difference between pets and service
> animals. It is also important to ensure that drivers who deny cannot
> claim ignorance, whether ignorance that a dog is a service animal or
> that they are required by law and policy to transport them, which we
> have been told are the primary reasons drivers say they refused to
> transport a service animal.  NFB has impressed upon the companies that
> agreeing to company terms and policies without reading them is no
> excuse, and that just as the companies insist on holding riders to
> arbitration and class waivers even if they didn’t read them, they need
> to hold drivers to their agreement to transport service animals even if
> they didn’t read them.
>
> Regarding resolutions, NFB passed resolutions condemning and deploring
> Uber and Lyft in 2022. See [2022
> Resolutions](
> https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2022-resolutions)
>
> No. 2022-13 and 2022-14. Those resolutions remain NFB policy until they
> are withdrawn. I do not expect NFB to withdraw them until Lyft and Uber
> have demonstrated a less tolerant approach to drivers who deny riders
> with service animals. NFB generally does not entertain resolutions that
> restate current NFB policy unless something has changed to warrant a new
> resolution. Unfortunately, not much has changed with respect to
> rideshare denials. That said, as a result of our advocacy, Uber and Lyft
> have addressed one of the demands of our resolutions by making complete
> ride  history available, including cancelled rides. If this is not
> active in your app, it should be soon.
>
> Finally, I’m unclear what more we would ask NFB to do. Because of the
> aforementioned arbitration terms, it is very difficult to sue rideshare
> companies in court and obtain systemic relief. Doing so requires member
> plaintiffs who have never signed up to use one of the rideshare
> companies, but who can legitimately claim that they would sign up for an
> account if not for rampant denials. At this point, it is very difficult
> to find a guide dog user  who has the technology to use rideshare but
> has never used rideshare, especially since nearly all of us have at some
> point signed up for both in the hope that we can get a driver from one
> if we are denied by the other.  Even were we to find such members, the
> litigation would almost certainly cut off our discussions with Uber and
> Lyft, thus depriving us of the ability to ensure that whatever they
> build for SelfID or some other solution actually works and benefits us.
> We have already had to explain why a small tweak to a potential solution
> would result in that potential solution becoming a definite additional
> problem. As for protests, we have discussed them, but believe to be
> effective we would need at least fifty guide dog handlers to march
> somewhere. We have also discussed needing to have the protest during the
> week for maximum effect, and that the best place to protest is likely in
> front of Uber and/or Lyft’s HQs in San Francisco. We are concerned
> about being able to get at least fifty guide dog users to San Francisco,
> likely have to spend at least one night there, and take off work to do
> that during the week. While we certainly would welcome the participation
> of our non-guide-dog using federation family as well, we believe it is
> important for media optics to have a predominantly guide-dog using
> protest population, given what we’d be protesting.
>
> All of that is not  to say we are meekly awaiting solutions. We are
> working to develop self-help resources  to allow guide dog users to go
> to small claims court to pursue monetary damages in states where that is
> allowed. We are also working to ensure that paratransit systems hold
> rideshare companies accountable for guide dog denials when those systems
> subsidize rideshares for riders with guide dogs. We believe these
> efforts, along with our direct advocacy with the rideshare companies,
> will be most effective in addressing the rideshare denials we all seek
> to reduce and eliminate.
>
> If others have ideas of what more NFB can do to address rideshare
> denials, I welcome those ideas and, if they are workable, I would be
> happy to present them to the advocacy team. I also look forward to
> further  discussion at the convention in Orlando.
>
> Thank you all very much.
>
> Yours,
>
> /Æ
>
> Al Elia
>
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