SuperShuttle Express faces suit over airport rides
SuperShuttle's website still states that 'In compliance with federal regulations, we provide reservations with Independent Operators who offer accessible vehicles to customers with disabilities, including those who use wheelchairs.'
But all three plaintiffs, disabled women from Berkeley and Richmond, 'have repeatedly been told by SuperShuttle representatives that no such options are available,' lawyers for the nonprofit Disability Rights Advocates said in a legal action in federal court in San Francisco.
The policy violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and a comparable California law and will 'adversely impact thousands of disabled individuals,' attorney Meredith Weaver wrote in the lawsuit.
According to U.S. Census Bureau reports, Weaver said, wheelchairs are used by 5.5 million Americans and 800,000 Californians. The suit seeks court orders requiring SuperShuttle to provide wheelchair access, in its own vehicles or by contracting with other transit providers, and unspecified damages for the three women.
'What is really shocking is that SuperShuttle holds itself out as having accessible transportation services but completely excludes wheelchair users,' Weaver said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.
SuperShuttle representatives could not be immediately reached for comment. The company is based in Scottsdale, Ariz.
According to the suit, one plaintiff from Berkeley had used SuperShuttle for airport trips with no extra charge for her wheelchair and luggage. But when she tried to book a ride late last year, she was told the service was no longer available, and she had to pay cab fare.
Another plaintiff is also paying additional sums for airport trips with family and friends. The third plaintiff, Kathi Pugh, a former attorney in Berkeley, said the loss of wheelchair-accessible transportation has changed her life.
'I used to travel all over the country nearly every other month for work,' Pugh, who suffered a broken neck at age 20, said in a statement released by her lawyers. 'I relied on SuperShuttle to get me to and from the airport.
'Now that SuperShuttle no longer has any wheelchair-accessible vans, my traveling days are over.'
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