This Weary Traveler: Ride and Home-Sharing and the Disabled

I “recently” read this NY Times article on Audible Channels for Prime.

A few points before I begin:

Recently: Two months ago, in November, because I can’t seem to turn these out monthly. So, let’s pretend this is a seasonal blog.

Read: Listened to. I have never been able to “read” a newspaper. The internet and audio files have revolutionized my dependence on news radio. All the headlines without the talk shows!

Audible Channels for Prime: If you’re blind and don’t use this, you’re missing out! Most of us already have Amazon Prime, so Audible Channels is a free resource full of books, shows, newspapers, TEDTalks, and other media nestled neatly onto your mobile device completely accessible to my beloved VIP community (visually impaired people).

Now, to the good stuff.

I have a travel bug that lives somewhere in the back of my mind. I think it’s an inherited condition on my mother’s side. And every once in a while, that travel bug bites me and I feel the urge to pack up, pick up, and go. I spent a lot of time camping and traveling with my family growing up, and then independently during high school and college. Now I’m married to someone who likes to travel as much as I do. We’re learning a lot about our different traveling styles, which, in my opinion, adds another dimension of enjoyment to the whole experience. That being said…travel is expensive! Gas or airfare, plus lodging, plus food, plus activities/entertainment… Camping requires somewhat specialized gear, outdoor sports, the same. Theme parks require tickets and admissions fees, museums, shows, tours… This is why there’s a whole industry built up around cheap travel. Advice blogs, reviews, chambers of commerce determined to lure tourists with the promise of free or cheap amusements in order to entice them into lengthier or more frequent stays…and then the sharing economy was born. Airbnb, Uber, and their ilk have generated a wide new vista of affordable travel!

For some people.

Now, the shared economy is young. Don’t get angry or depressed by the narrow focus of its new start. It takes time to develop infrastructure, identify all potential types of business, develop ethical standards, and create a working language of commerce. But part of that growing process that takes place over time is the general population observing the new industry, considering it, then adding their input on what sorts of services and products they would like, they need, or feel ought to be provided on moral or ethical grounds. So here’s my voice contributing to the international conversation on the development of the sharing economy.

Uber, get your act together. Too much to say on that score, and most of it’s already been said anyway.

Airbnb, I underestimated you. Keep trying, you’ll get there.

The sharing economy exists in what the author of the article above calls an ethical and legal “grey area.” Most of the very few exceptions to the accessibility requirements in the Americans with Disabilities Act involve personal property such as vehicles and home-based businesses. Like Uber cars and Airbnb? Well…not quite…ish…maybe? Unfortunately, it takes lawmakers a while to get anything done. Fortunately, companies have the privilege of setting their own policies in the meantime. Airbnb has a very thorough and “above and beyond” non-discrimination policy, wherein it states that hosts may not refuse to book guests who have service animals. It details some protections for hosts in the areas of health and safety issues, such as in the case of shared space or allergies, it also covers damage done to property under the security deposit policy. However, it also offers protections for guests with service dogs, including a discrimination filing form and a promise of personalized assistance in response to said discrimination. It has a very broad definition of what it calls “assistance animals” and “comfort animals,” too. It acknowledges the difficulties with proving that a dog is or is not an assistance animal. Here is a list of FAQs on the subject.

The article in question, however, focuses on wheelchair accessibility, and this is a slightly more…structural issue. Not every house is built with a roll-in shower or a ramp to the door instead of steps to the porch. Not all doorways are created equally wide. Not all houses have accessible necessary facilities. For example, the house in which I currently live has two bathrooms. They are on the top and bottom floors of the house. However, it is a split-level house; guests and residents enter on a mid-level and must travel up six steps or down nine steps to get to either bathroom – assuming they make it up the one step (garage) or three steps (front door) to get inside in the first place.

But it’s personal property – should people be forced to allow animals into their cars and homes?

Well, that depends on what you mean by “Forced.” Nobody’s forcing you to list on Airbnb, after all. You’ve made a choice to do business with them, and part of that business entails abiding by their policies. Don’t like the policy? Find another company to list with. Airbnb has the right to set policies for its business, just as much as you have the right to list with whomever you want, or not to list at all.

Do I think the government should add specified rules to the ADA requiring individuals participating in the sharing economy to accommodate service dogs, or modify their property for wheelchairs? NO, no I do not. That is a gross overstepping of the government’s responsibilities to protect its citizens from internal harm. However, I do think it would be within the federal government’s purview to require companies to make reasonable accommodations, such as the UberWAV program, a program where drivers can train to assist passengers with wheelchairs and have assistance making their vehicles accessible and setting non-discrimination policies. But the government should not tell the companies how to implement these reasonable accommodations, unless companies’ implementations to not meet minimum standards. Companies are, after all, owned by private citizens who have the same rights as individuals who do not own companies. The government is not specialized in the hospitality industry; should it devote its resources to becoming one in order to regulate that industry? The government is not an expert in a lot of industries, and simply cannot, and should not, expend the resources to understand them all well enough to dictate specific accommodations in each one. Nor does it have the right to do so.

To be perfectly frank, traveling with a service dog is much easier than traveling without one – but there are a couple of inconveniences I have to deal with. The benefits more than compensate for these, but I still acknowledge their presence. Hotels are required to accommodate my service dog, and I am not required to give advance notice, nor are they allowed to charge additional fees for cleaning except in the case of exceptional destruction of property. However, not every hotel employee knows this. I usually call ahead, or mark on my reservation that I have a service dog, just so there are no surprises. But inevitably the guy at the check-in counter has a 50-50 chance of being in the educated population or not, so I often wind up explaining federal law to people while fumbling with credit cards and room keys and rollerboard suitcases that want to fall on top of my pup. (Just recently bought a four-wheeled, standing rollerboard. How on earth did I travel without this before? It’s much less of a paw-hazard and doesn’t fall over at the drop of a hat or wag of the tail!). Then, of course, he doesn’t always pass the memo on to other receptionists or cleaning staff. So when my mom and sister first told me about this new thing called Airbnb, I was far less excited. At least hotels are regulated, I thought. To use the less expensive home-sharing company I’d have to make a dozen calls and spend hours reading profiles online to find someone who wouldn’t fuss about a 60 lb. hair-machine staying the weekend in his apartment, and then there’d be the additional fee, negating the ease and discount of the whole program. Nope, not worth looking at it. Being disabled is hard enough without adding that much research just to save $50 off a weekend trip.

Should’ve done the initial research, though…because, as I shared above, Airbnb has decided to pretend it’s a hotel, at least when it comes to service dogs. I can be assured that, except in the case of health and safety concerns, I need not sift through dozens of hosts to find a willing one. My usual courtesy call informing of my accompanying service dog will do.

This policy is a privilege, not a right. Therefore, though I am not required to do so, should I ever choose to use Airbnb in the future I will budget for an additional dog-hair cleaning fee for the host as a sign of respect for this privilege. The rights that service dogs enjoy are built upon a reputation of excellent canine behaviour and conscientious handlers If service dogs gain a reputation for being unreliable, unruly, and their handlers for being disrespectful, entitled, and careless with their animals, however, it is perfectly within the rights of the citizens and lawmakers of this country to revoke these privileges. The minority’s rights cannot be upheld if they abuse the majority, just as much as the majority’s rights cannot be upheld if they abuse the minority. No one has the right to abuse another. So, it is my personal goal to uphold the service dog reputation of excellence, respect, dignity, independence, professionalism, and superb training and behaviour in order to contribute to the rights and privileges of my community. IN order to avoid the appearance of evil I seek the appearance of excellence. I want my host to post on a forum saying it was the most wonderful experience, hosting that young woman and her service dog for the weekend! I want that post to include words like “quiet, prompt, neat, low-impact, generous, considerate,” and phrases like “the most well-behaved dog” and “nicest young woman” and ‘you’d hardly know the dog was ever there!”

Uber. Uber Uber Uber…

-sigh-

Uber needs corporate therapy to address its systemic behavioural and mood dysregulation problems.

Thing is, Uber is a great idea, and I’m not entirely certain some of the “behavioural problems’ aren’t exaggerated because of taxi competition issues. But there’s really no way to know one way or the other if Uber is the victim of a slander campaign or if they really just grew up too quickly and need to take a couple steps back and mature like a normal company. Probably both, but that’s neither here nor there.

I’ve taken taxi cabs before, and my experience has not been good. They’re expensive, but when you can’t drive you budget for that sort of thing instead of gas and car insurance and oil changes. Where I live they’re hard to come by, and take their sweet time arriving places, and drivers are not always clear on service dog policies and federal regulations. I called a cab once, told the dispatcher I had a service dog, and when the cab arrived the driver told me he had not been informed I had a service dog and that he couldn’t take me because corporate policy required service dogs to be transported via van, not sedan. Then he took off. I later found out that that is in fact the company policy, but that he should have waited with me, by law and by company policy, until the alternative vehicle arrived. That was the last time I tried traveling by cab. Once I actually, very unwisely, hitch-hiked home form the airport rather than call a cab. Well, I didn’t walk the side of the highway with my thumb out; I met a passenger on the plane going the same direction I was when we landed, and she and her husband gave me a lift. I admit to having watched too much Criminal Minds at that point not to wonder if I hadn’t just stumbled into the clutches of a serial killing duo, but it turns out they were your generic lovely couple looking to do someone a kind turn for the sake of altruism. Regardless, I haven’t done that since.

I’m always self-conscious about the idea of carpooling with people to-from work, church events, et cetera because I feel awkward asking if it’s ok for the dog to come in someone’s car. I wonder if they feel social pressure to say “yes,” if they think they’d be horrible people if they said “no” to the poor blind gal who can’t drive… I avoid asking whenever I can, but…I can’t drive, so I’m often forced to choose between inconvenient and often unreliable and rude cabs or wondering if I’m accidentally coercing someone into accepting dog hair into their perfectly clean SUV. This isn’t a calculation I should have to make. But what are my alternatives? Uber…and we’re not even going to mention the occasional city-run handicap ride service because their scheduling and price restrictions simply defeat the purpose of independent travel.

Keep trying, Uber, you’ll get there.

UberWAV is a pilot program specifically aimed at customers with wheelchairs and other mobility aids, not service dogs specifically. IN fact, it’s in the name: WAV stands for Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles. Wheelchair users and service dogs face two different kinds of difficulties, but I think that the wheelchair users have it a little worse off. Service dog users have to deal with people who refuse access, but the dogs can physically fit into almost any facility or vehicle. In fact, I’m convinced German shepherds have a semi-liquid state. But wheelchair users not only have to face people refusing them access but also significant physical limitations such as width of entrances and exits, lack of ramps or smooth passages, vehicle lifts, space in vehicles for their equipment, drivers who do not know how to safely assist them, and any number of other physical logistical challenges. Simply having a nondiscrimination policy doesn’t cut it for them; vehicles and houses require actual physical alterations in order to be considered accessible. I am glad that companies like Uber and Lyft are experimenting with cost-effective programs to offer services to this particular population. Now, if only we can be assured that all their drivers are well-versed in the company's non-discrimination policy that state that refusing service dogs is grounds for dismissal, that would make lifeso much easier!

But what if someone really just doesn’t want dog hair in their car/ Or has an allergy, or is terrified of dogs? Well…same as Airbnb. You sign up to do business with Uber, you agree to their policies. Don’t like them polices? Use a different platform. All the platforms have nondiscrimination policies? Well, then, find another alternative income. There are plenty of options out there. No one is holding a gun to your head forcing you to ride-share your vehicle. Make the decision that is best for you and your family, whether that is to share your vehicle with strangers who might smoke, wear strong perfumes, or have service dogs, or…don’t share your vehicle.

This blog post is heavily slanted toward sympathizing with people with disabilities. Very obviously so. I don’t apologise for it because this blog is here for me to share my opinions on things – and I happened to be disabled, so of course I sympathise with people with disabilities. I’m delighted you are interested in understanding my experience and the experiences of other Americans in similar circumstances, but I also encourage you to go out and do some research on the other side, that of the drivers and hosts. You should not feel ashamed for having concerns about sharing your home and vehicle, and you are not alone. Have your concerns, do your research, then make the decision that is right for you about participating in these programs.

My fellow disabled Americans; do not feel ashamed for blotting someone’s perfectly spotless SUV with a few black-and-tan hairs from your service dog. They signed up for it. If they weren’t willing to accommodate you, they wouldn’t have signed up. Be gracious, be respectful, be excellent, but do not be ashamed. Your life is difficult enough without borrowing unnecessary worry over nonexistent offenses. The author of the article that spawned this blog post shared a frustration that I have had about trouble, the inconvenience of calling around and doing additional research to make sure locations are accessible. I had previously criticized myself for being “lazy” and not wanting to do the legwork of finding these things out. It was nice to find that someone else acknowledged the additional burden of searching out accessibility when traveling. I feel justified in my choices of which battles to fight and which to avoid when it comes to accessibility. I’m not a professional advocate; I’m not getting paid to test every new product, place, and experience. If I’m going on vacation to relax, I should do what is necessary to relax. If I’m going on a trip for business or for personal reasons, I should make sure I have enough mental energy to focus on the business at hand, not spend it all worrying over whether or not I’m going to have a comfortable place to sleep.

The sharing economy is a good thing, and I am excited about it for a lot of reasons. For one thing, I love the innovation that’s coming out of it. For another, I’m all about saving money. But it’s a very young thing going through extensive growing pains. If I want to participate in that sharing economy I have to budget the time and energy required to interact with it as someone with a disability. If I do not have these resources available, it’s worth the higher fees to just book a hotel, use the airport shuttles, and download the local mass transit app. Evaluate your resources and needs, then make the best decision for you.