Lyft riders lose bid in class action over wheelchair-accessible cars in Bay Area

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

Lyft Riders Wheelchair-Access Class Action Lawsuit Overview:

• Who: A judge ruled on a class action lawsuit lodged by Lyft riders with disabilities in California’s Bay Area.
• What: The judge found that Lyft had not violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by not providing enough wheelchair-accessible vehicles in the Bay Area.
• Where: The ruling comes after a bench trial in a California court. 

Lyft is not legally obliged to provide more vehicles accessible by would-be riders who use motorized wheelchairs in the Bay Area, a California federal judge has ruled.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup published an order dismissing a class action lawsuit filed by disability advocates the Independent Living Resource Center San Francisco, Community Resources for Independent Living and four individuals against Lyft in 2019. 

The Lyft class action lawsuit claimed the ride-hailing app failed to provide sufficient services to those with mobility disabilities, violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as a result.

Lyft Riders With Disabilities Left With Few Options in Bay Area

Lyft failed to provide enough wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAVs) in the San Francisco Bay Area, claimed the riders. The class action lawsuit argued that Lyft needed to change its policies and procedures to offer an adequate number of WAVs in the area — for example, by offering incentives to WAV drivers.

However, on Wednesday, Judge Alsup ruled in Lyft’s favor, saying the plaintiff’s proposal that Lyft provide more WAVs to riders in the Bay Area is unreasonable “based upon its cost and administrative burden.” 

Judge Alsup ruled that the court had found that a WAV program in San Francisco, Alameda, and Contra Costa Counties would exceed $5.4 million per year.

The order goes on to say that the estimated cost per ride to Lyft, when estimating how many rides people who use motorized wheelchairs might take per month, would be anywhere from $622 to $2,500 per ride.

“Even if Lyft managed to increase demand by 100%… as plaintiffs propose, the range of prices above would still rate as excessive and unreasonable,” the judge ruled. 

While the plaintiffs argued that this was “chump change” for Lyft, the judge ruled that “even a vast bottom line does not transform exorbitant modifications into reasonable ones.” 

Despite the fact a similar program had been effective in New York, the court did not find that the situations were legally comparable. 

“If the ADA is to be read to require everywhere what a single city or group of cities require as a price of doing business, then, yes, we should ask Lyft to do it nationwide,” the judge wrote. 

“But does the ADA go this far? No court has ever so held. Instead, the law requires reasonableness and specifically reasonableness in the specifics of the case.” 

While Lyft continues to offer WAV rides in San Francisco, it does not pick up riders in the East Bay. 

Are you a wheelchair user who has had a hard time using the Lyft app? What do you think about the disabled Lyft riders class action lawsuit claims? Tell us in the comment section below.

Plaintiff and the proposed Class Members are represented by Stuart Seaborn, Melissa Riess and Rebecca Serbin of Disability Rights Advocates.

The Disabled Lyft Riders Class Action Lawsuit is Independent Living Resource Center San Francisco, et al. v. Lyft Inc., et al., Case No. 3:19-cv-01438, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• How Many Sexual Assault Uber Lawsuits Have Been Filed?
• Court Rules Measure That Keeps Certain Gig Workers as Contractors Is Unconstitutional
• Uber Gets Another Win in Court, Forcing More Drivers Into Arbitration
• Top Class Actions’ Sexual Misconduct and Abuse Resource Guide