The sky was deepening its orange hues while I got my bags and rolled towards the door of the Adelaide airport in Australia. I hadn’t called or made accessible taxi reservations and was fully prepared to sit around and wait for one to show up, as is often the case. Very few transportation services for people who use wheelchairs are “on demand” like they are for regular transit services.
Imagine my surprise when I rolled to the taxi area and there sat an accessible taxi just waiting for its next passenger! It was perfect timing and it allowed me to head to my hotel just in time to see the sunset over the ocean. Unfortunately, the rarity with which this occurs is disappointing to the extent that I was more excited about the taxi than the beautiful sunset I would see.
I recently went to Singapore and found their metro system so easy that I would actually get excited about riding it every day. I could roll to the station, follow the pathway, take an elevator, and roll right onto any train I wanted with no problem whatsoever. The trains were level and close to the platform so there was no gap at all. I didn’t have to pre-arrange help and I didn’t have to ask anyone at the station to help me. I could also change my mind and get off at any station I wanted to without worrying about needing a ramp or help of any kind. It was truly awesome to feel “normal” and not waste my time while on vacation.
One of the reasons I get upset with non-disabled people who fear traveling, is the fact that if you can walk you can go out to the curb at any airport in the world and a taxi will be there waiting or will be just a few minutes away. The driver will know exactly where to go and you’ll be to your hotel before you know it. The same goes for Ubers and trains and buses and even boats. There is no planning required.
But if you need a ramp to get into a special vehicle or onto a train, then you’re often required to make advance arrangements. Scratch that — you’re USUALLY ALWAYS required to make advance arrangements. And this isn’t just about having to make a call to schedule something. For me, it means spending time searching for accessible options. Confirming that said options are indeed accessible for an electric wheelchair. Reconfirming. Buying a ticket if necessary and sometimes even having to make an appointment for assistance. And imagine if this highly researched plan A doesn’t work out!?
It’s just a simple train ride. Or is it?
One time I wanted to take a train from Amsterdam to Antwerp. In order to do this, I had to first figure out if this was possible at all. Then I had to figure out which train line I would take and when. Then I had to call and buy a special ticket for wheelchair space because I couldn’t buy it online like a regular ticket. Then I had to call another office and make an appointment for ramp assistance at the boarding station and because it was an international journey I had to make an appointment at the arrival station as well. Then I had to do the same in reverse for my return trip.
All of this took me almost two hours including all the research and time spent waiting on hold. The train ride itself would only take an hour and fifteen minutes!
So after my long flight I arrived at the train counter. They were ready for me and nicely, the agent told me I wasn’t charged the appropriate cheaper fee for the wheelchair space (even though I requested a wheelchair space and got one). I would just have to call (oh great, another call) after my trip to get an adjustment. I’m all on board with fare discounts for wheelchair users especially when the process is so over-tedious, so that was nice to hear. The price difference was significant.
But since I wasn’t charged the “wheelchair fare” their system didn’t flag it so the train staff knew to keep the wheelchair space clear instead of filling it with suitcases. So when I appeared on the train, I had to sit sideways between two rows of seats and pass on the refreshments because there was nowhere to put them. In other words, I could be assigned the wheelchair space and that wouldn’t flag anything unless I also paid the wheelchair fare. Who the hell came up with that process?
After I got home I called to get the fare adjustment (and later emailed because the wait times were over an hour). I was told by Thalys that because I didn’t request a “wheelchair fare” in addition to a wheelchair space, I wasn’t going to be refunded and that’s why they weren’t expecting me on the train. Sorry for the inconvenience. Their system was clearly not geared towards accommodating a wheelchair user who didn’t already know their company policy and specifically request a wheelchair fare. Excuse me? I’m supposed to know the ins and outs of your business processes BETTER than your own ticket agents? Sorry, I don’t think so! So I ended up disputing the charge with my credit card company and got a refund for the difference in fares that way.
All of this for a train journey that any able-bodied passenger could have taken by simply walking off their plane to a train ticket counter, buying a ticket and going on the train. Done.
So if you’re wondering why fare concessions are a common thing for people in wheelchairs, the above tedious process is one of the main reasons why. But you know what? I would happily pay full price not to have to jump through all these fucking hoops every time i just want to take a normal train ride!
People take Uber for granted
It’s so common to see people waiting for Ubers and Lyfts nowadays or on Tv talking about their Ubers or their drivers. Anyone can just download the Uber app and request a ride, just like that! But for me, it’s not that easy.
Sure I can pull out the app when I’m somewhere and start requesting a ride. But if an Uber WAV (Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle) isn’t available, then I’m screwed. I’m even more screwed if I’m in a city where Uber WAVs aren’t even available in the first place. And even if they are available there used to (or still might) be a need to activate WAV access with a special promo code in the app. Ridiculous, right?
My success with Uber WAV has been extremely varied. When they first launched it in Chicago several years ago, I remember being in the heart of downtown Chicago, requesting an Uber WAV and the app kept telling me there were no vehicles nearby. Of course this is while I’m sitting there in front of a hotel watching person after person come out to the curb and hop into a regular taxi.
In the last year or so, I’ve had much more success with the WAVs in Chicago — so much so that I’ve actually been able to summon late-night Uber WAVs from Chicago O’Hare airport all the way back to my driveway in Wisconsin! It was expensive, but it was what I wanted, and thank the lil’ baby Jesus Uber was feasible for me.
But cut to me in Los Angeles, near the airport, and there are “No WAV vehicles available near your location.” At 9am. 5 blocks from the airport. LAX airport where there’s a never-ending queue of regular taxis, if not a giant parking lot full of them just waiting to pick people up.
Yeah. So luckily I had a plan B that day which involved taking the LAX FlyAway shuttle from the airport. This would mean rolling back to the airport terminal from my off-site hotel, then waiting for the bus. According to the website, no reservation was necessary even for wheelchair users.
Of course I get to the airport and bus #1 drives right past the stop area. Bus #2 stops and has a lift, but it’s broken. Same with bus #3, whose driver was just as frustrated as I was so he called and made sure the next one would have a working lift. It did, and I barely made it to my train on time even though I’d started my journey THREE HOURS earlier at my hotel. It took me 3 hours to do a trip that would have taken 30 minutes by car that Saturday morning.
The driver of that bus told me I should have called to make sure they knew I was coming that day. Listen, I was expecting to take an Uber and the shuttle bus’s own website said all the buses were accessible so no reservations were needed.
Stop complaining, and go — especially if you don’t need special services
Of course I will complain about these incidents of inaccessible or inconvenient transit. I complain to the companies and I complain to the airports. It sucks sometimes (almost all the time) but I don’t let it ruin my trip, or even worse — stop me from taking the trip at all. Even though the last time I flew to LAX to meet friends at Disneyland I waited FOUR HOURS for the Disney shuttle (same thing, broken lift), I still went back this time and still had to wait three hours.
If you are completely able-bodied and you are going to complain to me about having to wait fifteen minutes for a taxi at an airport, then I’m gonna roll over your foot. Even worse, if you’re going to worry about whether or not you’re going to get transportation from the airport AT ALL, then I’ll run over both of your feet. It’s so easy for able-bodied people to get transportation, it should be the least of your concerns.
I mean, you literally could call a taxi right now, wait for it, get to the airport, pick a random location with zero research, take the flight, arrive there, and get another taxi to take you to a random hotel all in less time than it would take me to plan the accessible services I’d need to do the same thing.
So get off your ass and go already.
You Should Go Anyway 
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