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WNIJ's summary of news items around our state.

Disability Rights Groups Sues Uber Over Wheelchair Access

uber.com

A Chicago disability rights group has sued the mobile ride-hailing service Uber for allegedly violating U.S. laws mandating wheelchair accessibility.

The suit was filed Thursday in Chicago federal court on behalf of Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago and several individuals. It seeks an order requiring that Uber comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and provide more wheelchair-accessible vehicles.

The filing notes Uber offers a service for wheelchair-bound customers called UberWAV. But it says Uber's mobile map often shows no such vehicles available in Chicago.

The suit says Uber provided nearly 2 million rides in Chicago in June last year. But it says Uber gave just 14 rides to motorized wheelchair users from 2011 to 2015.

A Chicago spokeswoman for San Francisco-based Uber Technologies, Inc., didn't have an immediate comment.

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