Opinion:  The latest DDA proposals are surprisingly concrete, but short on explanation.

The Department for Transport's (DfT) Disability Discrimination Act proposals at last put some flesh on the bones of the proposals for wheelchair accessible taxis.

While there is still no sign of any vehicle specification, the proposals outline specific criteria for determining areas that will be subject to the 'first phase' implementation and lists authorities deemed to meet those criteria, and specific dates for a 10-year implementation period are also included.

What is not disclosed, however, are detailed analyses on how the various criteria were applied to draw up the list of 'first phase' authorities.  For while the specific criteria are listed, we can only wonder how they were actually applied to specific cases.

Population
For example, while it seems generally accepted that more urban areas manifest greater demand for wheelchair accessible taxis, the population criterion uses figures for the whole authority area, and not for specific population centres.  Therefore might a more rural but populous area be included in the 'first phase', while a larger settlement in a smaller area might not?

The major 'tourist attraction' and 'transport interchange' criteria seem particularly wooly.  Does a tourist attraction justify the policy for the whole authority?  What about transport interchanges such as Gatwick Airport, where we understand a private hire monopoly is in place?

Are there authorities with existing mandatory policies for less than 100% vehicles which do not meet the other criteria?  If so, why should saloon cars in such areas be afforded continued preferential treatment?  Isn't this discrimination?

Wider issues
Neither is any information provided on the wider picture concerning wheelchair accessible taxis.  For example, with some authorities controlling taxi numbers to little more than 10% of the total taxi and private hire fleet, are mandatory policies here consistent with the ethos of the Act?  And while in some locations that allow saloon cars taxis comprise the vast majority of the local combined trade, might not this number be decimated by mandatory policies, and will this assist the disabled and the wider community?

Of course, as we all know wheelchair work is generally pre-booked, and this type of work is dominated by private hire, so is the second tier of any relevance as regards accessible vehicles?  And could mandatory policies in some areas destroy the taxi sector completely, leaving only non-accessible private hire vehicles?

While we do not have access to the kind of information used by the DfT to select 'first phase' authorities, and there is no explanation regarding the wider issues, the Minister's statement raises significantly more questions than it answers, and we must await the full consultation before a proper debate can be conducted.

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