Council ActionJoint Committees on Public Safety and Transportation & Public Utilities
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Official action detail
Source: LegislationDetail.aspx · gridLegislation
Full Bill
WHEREAS, Many Philadelphians greatly rely on SEPTA for transportation service because Philadelphia has far less taxicabs operating within the City in comparison to other major US cities. The ratio of residents per taxicab is the following: Philadelphia, 967 residents per taxi cab; New York City (Manhattan only), 138 residents per taxi cab; Boston, 349 residents per taxi cab; and Chicago, 387 residents per taxi cab; and
WHEREAS, With 128,856 residents living with an ambulatory disability in Philadelphia, there are currently only seven wheelchair accessible taxi cabs in the City, creating a ratio of one accessible taxi cab for every 18,408 residents with an ambulatory disability; and
WHEREAS, Due to the lack of handicap assessable public transportation options in Philadelphia, there is great demand for paratransit workers to assist disabled commuters; however, the working conditions, staffing limitation and physically demanding work can be a threat to overall worker safety; and
WHEREAS, Paratransit workers in Philadelphia, on average, earn significantly less compensation in comparison to other municipalities. In fact, Philadelphia paratransit workers on average, earn less than the living wage of $10.88 established under Chapter 17-1300 of The Philadelphia Code and applied to subcontractors under Mayoral Executive Order 3-14, as amended June 11, 2014; and
WHEREAS, Inadequate training, staffing, compensation, and physically demanding work can contribute to a lack of overall public safety for 128,856 residents living with an ambulatory disability while using public transit as well as the approximately 600 paratransit workers residing in the City of Philadelphia; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED
,
BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That the committees of Public Safety and Transportation & Public Utilities is hereby authorized to conduct joint hearings to investigate issues of public safety for nearly 129,000 transit commuters who have an ambulatory disability as well as the policies and procedures for the training and ongoing worker safety of paratransit workers in the City of Philadelphia.
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