On the afternoon we caught up with Kelly Mack, she just needed a ride to the grocery store.
“This is the part where you kind of wait and see,” said Mack, watching her phone.
She’s used a wheelchair since she was 10 — moved to D.C. after college, she said, because our city was trying to be more accessible. When the I-Team asked if the city was keeping its promise, she responded, “Here and there.”
D.C. does has a few options for passengers with wheelchairs.
Advertisement
Metro trains and buses are accessible. MetroAccess works too, but it requires setting up rides days in advance and being willing to wait.
The Transport DC program offers subsidized taxi rides, but only within the district.
When it comes to ride share companies like Uber and Lyft, the District does not require them to have wheelchair accessible vehicles — even though they account for 95% of all the for-hire rides here.
That leaves taxis, which make up just 5% of all for-hire trips in D.C. Taxis are District regulated and provided 23,000 trips for people who use wheelchairs last year.
“I call it the Yeti, because it’s rumored to exist, but, you know, I rarely ever see it,” exclaimed a frustrated Mack while waiting on a taxi she had reserved days before we met up.
Advertisement
The District has worked to increase service. D.C. has a law mandating 20% of large cab fleets be wheelchair accessible, but the I-Team couldn’t find it’s ever been enforced.
The head of the Department of For-Hire Vehicles (DFHV) told the I-Team, “we can’t punish them into compliance.”
Passenger Naomi Hess was hopeful last year when D.C. set aside $500,000 to incentivize cabdrivers to operate Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles -paying more per hour or to work late hours.
“There really, really needs to be progress,” said Hess. The city even set up a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle (WAV) hotline for people to get connected.
“I tried that pilot line multiple times and they just couldn’t find one for me. Where is the money going?” asked Hess.
Advertisement
WRC
WRC
The city already spent $255,000 in that pilot program and told the I-Team it generated 435 taxi trips from June to December. That’s $586 per ride.
Jonathan Rogers — the Director of DFHV, which spearheaded the pilot — wouldn’t talk to News4 on camera, but said “Council encouraged us to experiment and figure out what would change behavior… so that’s what we did.”
Advertisement
He said he hoped it would build momentum, and that the six new drivers with accessible vehicles added, would stick with it.
The department just launched a new pilot program in March, and says it’s offering more incentives to taxi companies and drivers. Plus, a spokesperson said it would be sending letters to all taxi companies asking for their long-term plans to address the issue.
“Anyone without a wheelchair can get an Uber, Lyft or taxi, whatever they want. It’s just not fair. And it has put me in unsafe situations,” Hess told the I-Team.
Last fall, she had all her travel planned out so she could attend the Sabrina Carpenter concert in Baltimore. But a delayed train back to D.C. got her to Union Station at 1 a.m., leaving her with few options.
“I was forced to walk home alone in the middle of the night.”
Advertisement
Both she and Mack say it isn’t like this everywhere. In New York City, there are more than 12,000 wheelchair accessible taxis and ride share vehicles, according to the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission.
The city said 46% of its taxi fleet is wheelchair accessible. By law, anyone who now wants to start driving for ride shares has to use an accessible vehicle there.
Back in D.C., Uber has some accessible vehicles, but did not respond to our questions about how many.
While Lyft offers accessible rides in nine other cities, it does not in the District. A spokesperson told the I Team it “will continue to push for solutions that make rideshare as accessible as possible for everyone.”
As for taxis, none of the larger companies in town would talk to News4 on camera. But they did admit it’s a challenge, saying wheelchair accessible taxis are both expensive to buy and costly to maintain due mostly to their weight and modifications.
Advertisement
That could explain why the I-Team found so many out-of-commission vehicles in taxi lots with markings that read “junk” and “need engine and transmission.”
Back at Mack’s apartment, she still waited for confirmation her taxi was on the way. It’s been so frustrating for her that she started keeping track of all her taxi calls for the last three years.
“I had 72 attempted trips,” she said. “I averaged those years and came out with a 71% failure rate.”
Which is exactly what happened on the day we hung out with her.
“We’ll wait a few more minutes and then probably gear up, put on the coat, head out,” she said.
Advertisement
But that taxi never came.
Ella Robinson contributed reporting to this investigation.
With a blue sky above the Lincoln Memorial, people walk along the reflection pool in Washington, D.C., on June 9, 2023.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
hide caption
Advertisement
toggle caption
Jose Luis Magana/AP
A nonprofit is suing the National Park Service, the Department of the Interior and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum over the decision to resurface the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool at Washington D.C.’s National Mall, and to paint the pool’s basin blue.
The suit was filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF), an education and advocacy organization. In the suit, TCLF is asking a federal judge to halt the project, saying that the Trump administration failed to have the project reviewed federally, as is dictated by the National Historic Preservation Act.
Advertisement
President Trump revealed his plans for the pool do-over last month in “American flag blue,” saying that the project would take one week and $2 million, and that it would be completed in time for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4. A few days later on Truth Social, the president posted a fake image of himself and several of his administration officials in swimsuits, along with an unidentified woman in a gingham bikini, lounging in the water with the Washington National Monument at the rear. (Swimming in the reflecting pool is prohibited by federal law.)
In a YouTube video posted by the White House on April 23, Trump called the pool “filthy dirty” and said it “leaked like a sieve.” In that video, Trump said he was going to call three companies that he has worked with in the past – “all they do is swimming pools” – and say, “Give me a good price.”
The New York Times reported last Friday that the contract for the reflecting pool’s resurfacing was awarded in a $6.9 million no-bid contract to a company called Atlantic Industrial Coatings, which previously has never held any federal contracts.
An employee at the Atlantic Industrial Coatings confirmed in a telephone call on Monday that it has been contracted for this project, but referred all other questions to the Department of the Interior.
The Times reported on Monday that the final cost of the project could be upward of $13 million, per documents it says it has obtained. The Department of the Interior did not confirm the cost of the project, but wrote: “The contract price reflects the effort necessary to expedite the timeline of completing the leak prevention coating project—more people, more materials, more equipment and longer hours ahead of our 250th.”
Advertisement
In an unsigned statement emailed to NPR Monday afternoon, the Interior Department wrote: “The National Park Service chose the best company to expedite the repair of the iconic Reflecting Pool ahead of our 250 celebrations. The choice of American Flag Blue will enhance the visitor experience by making the pool reflect the grand Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument. NPS is also investing in a state-of-the-art ozone nanobubbler filtration system and will now have a dedicated crew who will maintain the grounds’ from wildlife. The Department is proud of the work being carried out by our Park Service to ensure this magical spot can be enjoyed for not only our 250th, but for many generations to come.”
Critics of the project, including TCLF, don’t share that vision – and are taking particular umbrage at the color.
“The reflecting pool should not be viewed in isolation; it is part of the larger ensemble of designed landscapes that comprise the National Mall,” Charles A. Birnbaum, the president and CEO of TCLF, said in a statement emailed to NPR Monday. “The design intent, to create a reflective surface that is subordinate, is fundamental to the solemn and hallowed visual and spatial connection between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. A blue-tinted basin is more appropriate to a resort or theme park.”
The National Park Service regularly cleans out algae, goose droppings and other detritus from the reflecting pool. The last major renovation of the reflecting pool, which included the installation of a new circulation and filtration system, took place during the Obama administration at a reported cost of $34 million.
Before founding TCLF in 2008, Birnbaum served for 15 years as the coordinator of the Historic Landscape Initiative for the National Park Service.
Advertisement
TCLF has another open lawsuit against the federal administration: it is one of eight cultural and architecture groups currently suing President Trump and the Kennedy Center board over the planned renovations of the complex, which are planned to start in July.
The memorial service will be held at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial at 1 p.m.
A brave K-9 hero from the region will be honored at the Annual National Police K9 Memorial Service on Monday afternoon. (Roanoke Police Department)
WASHINGTON D.C. – A brave K-9 hero from the region will be honored at the Annual National Police K9 Memorial Service on Monday afternoon.
K-9 Knox died in the line of duty last year after he was accidentally hit by a police vehicle while pursuing a suspect involved in a stolen vehicle incident. He was a 3-year-old German shepherd and had served as a narcotics detection and patrol apprehension K-9 for the Roanoke Police Department since May 2023.
The memorial service will include a wreath-laying ceremony and will be held at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C., at 1 p.m. The event will open with a musical performance by Frank Ray, and the guest speaker will be Deputy Jared Hahn of the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit.
Advertisement
The San Antonio Police Department Blue Line Choir will sing the national anthem, and the Emerald Society Pipes & Drums band will also perform.
Showers continue to move west with a cold front tonight. There will be a break in the rain overnight, but showers return for the start of the day on Monday. Monday afternoon will be dry, but noticeably cooler.
Sunshine returns Tuesday, but the break in the rain will be short-lived with rain chances on Wednesday
Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to check the weather radar on the go.
QuickCast
TONIGHT: Showers early Mostly cloudy Wind: N 5-10 mph LOW: Low 50s
