Uber is presenting a new feature to better accommodate passengers with disabilities.
The shared travel service said this week that it is offering to people who travel with service animals the option of moving in the application and automatically notify drivers in the collection.
“With this update, our goal is to promote clearer communication and greater confidence for both drivers and drivers throughout their trip,” said Chris Yoon, product manager of Equity At Uber, in a publication about the New option.
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The measure occurs after riders have complained for years about Uber drivers who reject passengers with service animals.
With the new option, Uber said he is working to proactively address the problem. If a rider has identified as a service animal and the driver cancels his trip in the collection, the driver will receive a notification in the application that will remind them that it is against the law to reject someone due to a service animal.
Similarly, if a rider who has identified Autoinsidia for having a service animal has its trip canceled by a driver in the collection, you will see a message asking what happened.
Whether a rider chooses or not to identify itself as a service animal, Yoon points out that drivers are prohibited to reject walks or discriminate against passengers due to their service animals and drivers who violate politics ” They can permanently lose access to the platform. “
Uber officials said that two years spent designing and building the new characteristic in collaboration with the defenders of disability and service animals.
“We appreciate the launch of Uber of the Animal Autod Voluntary Service function,” said Karen Leies, president and executive director of The Seeing Eye, who trains the dogs guides the blind. “This feature is a positive step to identify drivers who deny people with service animals, and we hope not only help prevent shared travel rejections for guide dog controllers, but also provide data that helps Uber to address the discrimination of shared trips for our community. “
The past fall, Uber sent all its drivers an educational video about service animals and announced a pilot of the option of identification of service animals. At the same time, Uber launched options that allow deaf riders or hearing problems, as well as those that are blind or have a low vision to self -identify.
