December 7, 2015

Nancy Gibbs

Time Inc.

225 Liberty Street

New York, NY 10281

Dear Ms. Gibbs,

According to media reports, Uber’s CEO Travis Kalanick is among the final contenders to be

Time Magazine’s 2015 Person of the Year.

On behalf of the United Spinal Association, I respectfully request that you remove him from

your list and not honor a man whose company refuses to provide wheelchair users with equal

access to its transportation fleet.

Since Uber began operating in New York City three years ago, Mr. Kalanick has had policies in

place that discriminate against wheelchair users by prohibiting Uber’s drivers from using

accessible vehicles. Uber has 30,000 cars operating in New York City and not a single one is

wheelchair accessible.

Despite ongoing efforts to get Uber to invest in these vehicles, Uber instead relies on a

government-subsidized accessible transportation that is routinely short-staffed. In fact, Uber’s

aggressive recruitment of taxi drivers is exacerbating this staffing situation, leaving fewer drivers

available to operate these vehicles and forcing wheelchair users to find other ways to get around.

In many cases, wheelchair users have no transportation option available to them at all.

Time’s Person of the Year award should not honor a man who oversees a company that

discriminates against wheelchair users. I strongly encourage you to examine the negative impact

of Mr. Kalanick’s success and how it has set the accessible transportation movement back for

decades.

Thank you for your time, and good luck in making your final selection.

Sincerely,

James Weisman President & CEO