Shortage of specialist taxis
Wheelchair accessible vehicles call
A new survey has found there is still a distinct lack of wheelchair accessible taxis in Perth and Kinross.
The survey, which was originally commissioned to assess whether there was any unmet demand for taxis in Perth and Blairgowrie in general, said feedback suggested it was difficult for wheelchairs users to get suitable taxis throughout Perth and Kinross but particularly in areas outwith the city.
It added the need for more taxis capable of transporting the elderly and impaired is growing faster in the region than much of Scotland and recommended the council “encourage investment by the trade towards targeting this market.”
As a result councillors were asked on Thursday last week to approve a report authorising local authority staff to engage with the taxi trade to see what now needs to be done to increase the availability of wheelchair accessible vehicles.
“Feedback from consultation with stakeholders and with the But the county needs more wheelchair accessible taxis
trade suggested that there are issues with the availability of wheelchair accessible vehicles across Perth and Kinross as a whole,” the survey concluded.
“The availability of wheelchair accessible vehicles is concentrated in Perth and when vehicles are required in other areas, then they are often dispatched from Perth. This results in additional cost for the time and distance to get to the required location. In addition, the vehicles are unavailable for longer periods, for other users.
“The market for providing licensed vehicle services to the elderly and mobility impaired is a growing market and in Perth and Kinross is growing faster than for Scotland as a whole.
“It is recommended that the council work with the licensed vehicle trade to help identify and quantify the potential market growth in this sector and help to encourage investment by the trade towards targeting this market.
“As a consequence, such measures should help to increase the level of provision of wheelchair accessible vehicles in the licensed vehicle fleets, both taxis and private hire cars.”
And the report that went before PKC’s licensing committee last week said: “The principal issue identified is a lack of availability of wheelchair accessible vehicles at some times of day and in some locations. This is an issue which has been identified in previous surveys.
“It is ... proposed that the council should implement the recommendation made in the report in relation to the market for wheelchair accessible vehicles.
“The matter will be discussed at [a] forum in July and it is proposed that the council engages further with the taxi trade and stakeholders to identify whether there are further steps which the council should take to increase the availability [of] wheelchair accessible vehicles.”
Perth and Kinoss is growing faster than Scotland as a whole