For Chris Noel, hailing a yellow cab in Manhattan that he can get into is like hitting the lottery.
The odds are daunting. New York City has just 239 yellow taxis equipped to transport riders like Noel, who uses a wheelchair, in its fleet of 13,000 yellow cabs. Noel, who lives in Harlem, says an hourlong wait is common for the oversized taxis, which he hails by calling a central dispatch line.
"And I still have to pay a taxi fare and I'm late," he added. "It's not like I'm being convenienced in any way."
The cabs are part of a year-old, $1.3 million pilot program to serve the 60,000 or so New Yorkers who use wheelchairs or electric scooters to get around. The Taxi & Limousine Commission, which oversees the program, could not provide ridership figures, saying only that more disabled riders are using it than when it started. City officials say there are more accessible cabs in New York than any other U.S. city.
But advocates for the disabled say the program may be too little, too late. The taxis are often not available because they often pick up street hails, Noel and others say.