Transportation Tango: Rideshare Refusals to Drive Guide Dog Users
Enforcing the law and creating a new normal
I am someone who has a background in law; who is well-traveled; independent; and an active contributing member of society. I also happen to be completely blind. My guide dog, Yas, enhances my independence and my general ability to live life and live it well.
Taxi and rideshare refusals are a common experience for many blind and visually impaired guide dog handlers. This article seeks to provide context to my recent complaint against Uber, and puts forward my views on what needs to change. I will start by outlining an incident that occurred over ten years ago when I was living in Melbourne, and which I wrote about at the time.
It was a Saturday, and a quiet night. A cool breeze was starting to blow—a welcome change after the still suffocating heat of the day. A friend I hadn’t seen in a while came over for a catch-up.
We were both in the mood for a decent burger and a cold beer, so we decided to catch a cab to a nice pub we both liked in the next suburb. I put the lead and harness on Quade (his guide dog get-up), I locked up, and left my mate, Neil, to flag the cab from the main street near my place. Obviously this task presents certain challenges for me, so when I travel alone, I either use apps on my phone (as most other prospective passengers now do), or recruit a friend or unsuspecting stranger into flagging one down.
Neil and I were lucky on this occasion. A cab stopped for us in a matter of seconds, and we jumped in—Neil in the front and Quade and I in the back. Quade was a solidly built, but compact black Labrador. There is almost always room for a pup to sit in the floor space below the seats of a car. All three of my guide dogs have been so conditioned to this mode of travelling that they are normally asleep within minutes. Guide dogs are trained to an extremely high standard, and guide dog handlers are taught to keep their dogs clean, and behaving in a way that their right to access public places demands that they should be.
Travelling by taxi and Uber is a necessary part of life for me. My request for a drivers’license was refused for some inexplicable reason, and my feet and public transport will only get me so far both quickly and safely. I also want to keep my requests to friends to a minimum, as constantly tapping someone’s reserves of good will gets old very fast for all concerned. In order to maintain and enhance my independence; to have complete control over what I do and when and how I do it; and to make best use of the time available to me, I catch cabs and Ubers.
ID: Henry and his guide dog Yas are in the backseat of a car; Yas is looking at the camera.
The Good
Being the outgoing and gregarious person I am, I have had some enriching interactions with taxi and rideshare drivers over the years. I will never forget one conversation with a taxi driver in Sydney who was a chemical engineer in his own country, but whose qualifications weren’t recognised here. An Uber to the airport recently brought me into contact with an ex-footy player who wore his jersey with pride, and who went the extra mile to give me a hand to find the airport entrance. During my ill-spent youth, I got to know several drivers, Robert and Chris, who both went out of their way to give me a hand and get me home safely. They both remain life-long friends to this day.
I count myself lucky to call some drivers friends, and know many others by name and by the stories they share with me. Travelling through the world in this way exposes me to a diversity of people and human experience that most others do not encounter. Apart from the independence and autonomy which ride-share and taxi drivers can facilitate, I genuinely feel the richer for having these many and varied (and sometimes colourful) interactions and conversations in my life.
The Not-So-Good
Back to the night in question. The drive was uneventful, and the friendly cab driver was not fazed by the anomaly of a well behaved dog in the back footwell of his car. It doesn’t always go like this...like the return trip, for example.
Neil and I had our burgers and enjoyed a few quiet beers. When we were done, we walked outside to the street and considered our options: a $5 cab ride or a 30 minute walk back to mine. We chose the cab option.
The driver of the first cab we flagged pulled up at the lights, took one look at Quade in his harness, and emphatically stated “No dogs!” He then proceeded to take off at speed, and cancel the uber. As I recall, we had another beer and walked home.
Ten years have passed since this episode, and as much as the transportation landscape has changed with the entry of rideshare companies onto the scene, much remains the same. Rideshare refusals and uber cancellations still occur, flimsy excuses are used, and outright lies are told in order to justify unconscionable behaviour and downright dangerous outcomes for an individual who merely wants to get from A to B as the law entitles them to. The latest string of refusals that I have experienced involved Uber Assist and Uber Comfort vehicles. The incident which was the final straw for me involved having to accept a lift home from some lovely strangers after a refusal and uber cancellation from an Uber Comfort driver. As enjoyable as it was making their acquaintance, none of us should have been placed in this situation.
Uber Assist is a service that uber rolled out specifically for the segment of passengers that might need a bit of an extra hand. The vast majority of uber assist drivers are brilliant at what they do and professional in the way they do it; however, rideshare refusals can and do occur regularly. There are also a limited number of uber assist vehicles on the road, meaning that one may not be in the area at the time of booking. Any refusal makes one feel frustrated and angry. When an assist driver refuses, or cancels a ride after being respectfully told that a guide dog is travelling, it makes my blood boil; quite apart from the inconvenience such refusals cause myself and many others.
Reflections
Rideshare refusals and mysterious uber cancellations occur regularly for me and other handlers – on average, a couple of times a week in my case. This is despite doing all the things that should, in theory, minimise refusals. I send messages to advise drivers I am travelling with a guide dog. I almost always use “uber assist” when travelling with my guide dog, except in cases where there are none on the road near my location. In these circumstances, I booked an uber comfort in hopes of getting a more experienced driver and pay more for a premium service offering. I am courteous, respectful, and keep my dog clean.
To rub salt into the wound, subtle and not so subtle suggestions are made by well-intentioned people as to how someone with a guide dog can change their behaviour to avoid such taxi and rideshare refusals from occurring. It is as if they think that the impacted individual is bringing the refusal upon themselves by daring to go out and live life to the fullest extent possible, or by getting necessary life chores done. “Plan ahead”, they might say; “tell the driver you have a guide dog in advance of the trip”, they’ll opine; or “pay a bit more and get Uber Pet”, they will suggest. Does this line sound familiar to anyone? How regressive does it seem, when applying the same logic to other contexts in which society’s expectations have supposedly come so far?
I have made good use of all these suggestions on occasion in service of the so-called “bigger picture”. The fact remains however, that no one should have to do these things. Sometimes, time and cost are limited, and one can only do so much with the time and cost available. Well-intentioned as these comments may be, they serve only to highlight the yawning gulf between the law as it is written, and the ignorance, disregard and self-serving arrogance that is practised in some quarters. The insidious messaging to the disability community is simple – pay more, wait longer, and expect less as the norm.
Discrimination, and its consequences
There are anti-discrimination laws in Australia that are designed to protect people from discriminatory conduct in a wide range of situations and circumstances. People travelling with accredited guide dogs and other certified assistance animals have the right to unconditional access to most public places. This includes schools, shops, restaurants and pubs, accommodation, public transport, and of course, taxis and ride-share. To refuse access is to break the law. Sometimes, for many and varied reasons, owners and proprietors refuse access anyway. The most common explanations that’ve come up against relate to cultural differences and health and safety concerns, or genuine uncertainty of the law. Discrimination can be explicit, (as in the taxi and ride-share examples), or implicit, as in putting up roadblocks and deterrents to access. A bad attitude, for instance.
There is no right way for an individual to deal with discrimination when it occurs. Complaints processes are challenging because they require proof, time and effort. They also require the individual to reengage with an upsetting or even traumatic incident that they would rather put behind them. Enforcement and remedies pathways are also limited at the present time. It is always tempting just to shake it off and let it go, and I have done this very thing more times than I care to count.
The consequences of repeated instances of discrimination are profound. What if I were an individual who doesn’t have the self-confidence that I am fortunate to possess myself? Repeated refusal to access will undoubtedly have a significant and detrimental impact upon this person’s quality of life and self-esteem. What if I were a woman who is travelling alone at night, or what if I myself were travelling in an unsafe environment? Access denial then becomes a serious safety concern.
Finally, what if a failure to educate, complain, and for responsible regulators to enforce laws leads some taxi and ride-share drivers to assume that it is in fact acceptable and “normal” to engage in illegal and unconscionable behaviour?
Proposed Solutions
To begin my comments, I am a pragmatist and a realist. Nothing will change overnight, and there are some people in the taxi and ride-share industry who will simply continue to do what they do because they feel that they can get away with it, or because they feel entitled to act in a certain way. For others, however, behaviour change can only start with the provision of better education and training about what the law requires of them. I offer these solutions in the spirit of a frank acknowledgement of what needs to change for things to change.
Regulation and enforcement – For ride-share and taxi companies, and the drivers who work for them and or use their platforms, there needs to be a clear and unambiguous understanding that there will be serious consequences for behaviour that is illegal and unconscionable. State and Territory regulators require far more respect from the industry than they are currently shown. These regulators, in turn, need to demonstrate that respect is owed to them by using what investigatory and enforcement powers they have to come down on individuals who act illegally, and on platforms that permit themselves to be used in illegal and unconscionable ways in the provision of services. Taking a look at internal complaints’ data would be a useful first step in ascertaining the scale and scope of the problem, and creating industry-wide accountability.
More and better education initiatives – there are opportunities for taxi and ride-share companies to do far more with respect to education and training of drivers. It is essential that this training is more than a tick-box exercise, and that it is provided in multiple languages in order that key points are understood and acted on. Success should be measured in outcomes over time, and updated as feedback or suggestions are received from stakeholders. Furthermore, incorporating lived experience of disability into this training is crucial if it is to have any chance of success.
Strengthening our Human rights Framework – Australia is currently the only liberal democracy that does not have a Human rights Act or Charter at a national level. Most people only have a basic understanding of what human rights are, and how they work. However, for those Australians who are in most need of the protections that human rights seek to provide, the gaps in our laws as they currently stand have consequences for how life is lived and how they are treated. It is gratifying to read that the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has recently released a position paper on a proposed model for a national Human rights Act. I don’t pretend for a moment that drafting and passing this legislation would solve all problems. However, I do believe that strengthening our human rights framework will promote greater transparency and accountability. Encouraging people to think about human rights more than is presently the case can only be a good thing, and it will undoubtedly lead to better outcomes.
Concluding comments
There are laws that provide us all with rights and protections. These are only as powerful, as effective, and as useful, as our willingness to engage—to ensure that the laws are enforced. There is no point in their existence beyond a fluffy, nice sounding but ultimately unattainable ideal otherwise. One thing that can be done without reinventing the wheel is to stop accepting excuses for poor behaviour, and raising our collective bar of what we are willing to permit as acceptable. If you are discriminated against, assert your rights in ways best suited to the situation. If you observe discrimination occurring, show your support by treating others as you would want to be treated yourself. Don’t wait for others to act and stand passively by. Create the change by being the change. After all, “normal” is whatever we want it to be.
Many drivers have reached out to me directly as a consequence of media attention on the refusals issue. I have met up with one already, and I am in the process of getting to know others who will be able to get me where I need to go. Treating another human being with dignity and respect costs nothing. However, and as anyone from a minority group or who has a disability will tell you, it is a priceless gift that means the world when it is freely given. To those thousands of drivers who I have ridden with over the years and with whom I have had positive experiences, I say thank you. Thank you for doing the right thing. Thank you for acting with integrity, and thank you for going the extra mile in some cases to make my life easier than it otherwise would be. I appreciate you all.