@matthewandpaul: Many of you know I’ve been denied ride shares in the past. This is not our first time, but it never gets easy. My heart starts to race as I hold back tears and do my very best to stay calm and attempt to educate the driver about the law. Keep in my mind, it should never be the responsibility of the disabled person to educate ride share employees. That falls on companies like Uber and Lyft. Here are some facts for you: Uber drivers can opt out of pet rides, but they CANNOT opt out of service dog rides. Why is that? Because service dogs are akin to medical equipment, and denying a ride amounts to discrimination. It is 100% illegal. What if the driver is allergic or afraid? According to ADA and Uber’s strict policy, neither of these factors matter when it comes to a service animal. Uber does a LOT to educate its drives about this law, but from my experience… it’s not working. Why is that? Based on the reaction from both of these ride denials, it was because they don’t get paid extra to clean up after a service dog (when riders select “Uber Pet” they pay extra money, which incentivizes the driver, and pays them for the fur removal process). Since they are not getting paid extra, they don’t seem inclined to follow the law. At the end of the day, this is a monetary issue. I believe Uber should incentivize drivers to pick up service dogs by PAYING THEM extra to do it. However, unlike with the “Uber Pet” option, the payment should come directly from Uber or Lyft… not the disabled person. Will Uber lose a little bit of money over this? Sure. But it’ll be worth it. They should treat their drivers better, and they need to be held accountable for creating a system that is consistently proven to be BROKEN. If you read this far, thank you for attending my TED Talk -Paul :) #disabilitytiktok

Matthew and Paul

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Friday 27 March 2026 13:28:10 GMT