Wheelchair Accessible Taxis and FHVs: NYC Fleet Data

In short: As of October 11, 2026, TLC's list of authorized yellow taxi vehicles marks 6,385 of 10,236 (62%) as wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAVs), and its list of active for-hire vehicles flags 9,348 as WAV. TLC's 2025 Annual Report says that by the end of 2025 there were over 6,000 accessible taxis in service, 56% of those on the road, and more than 13,500 WAVs across the taxi and FHV fleets. A court order requires 50% of all authorized medallions to be accessible by December 31, 2028.

This page puts the taxi and FHV numbers, the legal deadlines and the app-trip data in one place. Counts come from TLC's Open Data lists (we queried them on October 12, 2026; TLC last updated them October 11) and TLC reports.

The numbers at a glance

WAVs by fleet

The taxi share on Open Data (62%) is higher than TLC's "56% of those on the road." They measure different things: Open Data counts vehicles authorized on a medallion today, while TLC's figure counts taxis actually in service. Neither is the court order's measure of "all authorized medallions," which includes medallions in storage.

The court-ordered milestones

For taxi owners, the rule change means a non-accessible taxi cannot be replaced with another non-accessible one; see can my taxi be a non-accessible car?. Money to help comes from the Taxi Improvement Fund: TLC raised the WAV hack-up grant from $14,000 to $20,000 in 2025, and the fund paid nearly $48 million to owners and drivers that year (2025 Annual Report). TLC's FHV accessibility FAQ says there are no TLC incentives for FHV WAVs.

New WAV FHV licenses per review

Because new FHV licenses are only available for WAVs, the FHV WAV fleet grows mainly through new licenses. TLC's FHV License Reviews give the WAV share of new licenses:

The 2023–2024 share is low because thousands of EV-only licenses were issued that year, not because fewer WAVs were licensed. See FHV license cap statistics.

Which models are WAVs

Only certain conversions qualify; the full model, year and modifier list is in TLC approved wheelchair accessible vehicles. No electric WAV is available: TLC's February 2026 review says no accessible electric vehicle is on the U.S. market, so there are none in the TLC fleet. That matters for the Green Rides Initiative, which counts trips in either an EV or a WAV toward Uber's and Lyft's targets; see TLC electric vehicle fleet statistics.

WAV trips on Uber and Lyft

Trip records filed by Uber and Lyft include a flag for trips where the rider asked for a WAV and a flag for trips done in a WAV.

Two points to read correctly:

• Most WAV trips are not WAV requests. About 9–10% of completed app trips ran in a WAV, but only about 0.3% were requested as WAV trips. TLC's FHV accessibility FAQ confirms bases may send any trip to a WAV.
• Completed trips only. In the trip files, every completed trip where the rider asked for a WAV was in a WAV, month after month; that is a property of completed trips, not proof that every request was served. Between about 47,500 and 69,200 completed WAV-requested app trips were recorded each month (dataset trips-app-wav-fulfilment-by-month). For response times, TLC's online Factbook now reports WAV requests completed in high-volume FHVs and how bases perform against the rule to serve 90% of WAV requests in under 10 minutes (2025 Annual Report). More in WAV trip requests on Uber and Lyft and the base WAV trip mandate.

Accessible dispatch changes in 2025–2026

TLC adopted the Accessible E-Hail Program rule (effective May 2, 2025). Licensed e-hail apps must offer a WAV option and must also take WAV requests by phone, so the separate Accessible Dispatch vendor program was "scheduled to run through February 2026 and conclude shortly thereafter" (2025 Annual Report). Taxi drivers now get $10 for certain accessible trips requested through an e-hail provider, replacing the old $1-per-trip payment.

What the data can't tell you

• Green cab WAVs. TLC's lists don't flag accessible green cabs in a way we can count.
• Which app a WAV works for. The FHV list shows the affiliated base, and most app cars are affiliated with black car bases, so it can't be split cleanly by app.
• Whether a WAV is in service. A flagged vehicle may be parked, in the shop or waiting for inspection.
• Wait times for wheelchair users. Trip records hold completed trips only; use TLC's Factbook for response data.
• Medallion models. The medallion list has no accessibility column by model, so our model chart covers FHVs only.

Related: insurance for FHVs, TLC licensed vehicle statistics, taxi retirement age and the vehicles hub.