Taxi Driver Online

...although to be fair the author does acknowledge her 'Judas-like' behaviour towards traditional cabs

Why booking an accessible taxi is a sobering business

By Rebecca Armstrong

https://inews.co.uk/opinion/columnists/ ... ccessible/

On the hunt for an accessible home and railing against the fact that the world is a wheelchair-unfriendly place

I was in a mad rush the other night, needing to get home from work to go back out again, so I ordered an Uber. I also needed to complete an errand, and thought that I could do it as I was whisked to my destination. (I held out for a long time against Uber, preferring the knowledge and Knowledge of black cabs, and taking heed of stories about Uber’s corporate practises and problems with misogyny, but my values went under the wheels of its cheapness and convenience. Mea culpa.)

My car turned up at the tap of a phone screen

My task was to book a wheelchair-accessible taxi for the weekend. But as I worked my way through the list of cab firms local to my husband’s care home in Kent, zipping along in a car that turned up in moments at the tap of an iPhone screen, I drew a blank. Streamline’s was booked up.

“All of them?” I asked forlornly, kicking myself for having booked tickets for something eight months ago but forgetting to think about transport until the week before.

“We only have one,” said the lady on the other end of the line. I tried Apollo Cars. “Ours is in the garage at the moment.” “You only have one?” “Yes”. Express couldn’t book Hackney cabs in advance (“we subcontract it out at the weekends, and we don’t know who’ll be on duty. You’ll have to call then.” “I need to know we can get transport in advance,” I implored. “Sorry.”).

Would a black cab even work?

I was also working under the assumption that Nick’s electric wheelchair could be bundled into a black cab – they have ramps that fold out, and can usually accommodate a wheelchair (another reason why I should be using them instead of Ubers. Forgive me, for I have sinned) but I’ve not put him in the back of one since he left his manual chair behind. Advice on this ranged from the blithe “just turn off the battery when on board!” to the alarming “it’s a no for electric ones. The access into the vehicle is extremely unsafe.”

I texted individual cab drivers (“Oh no, love, I’m in Southampton on Sunday”) and a friend who’s a wheelchair user. I took to Twitter. My dad suggested asking a family friend to give up her Sunday to ferry us around, provided I could get her insured on our van.

Eventually I admitted defeat. The good news: we had tickets to a local music event held on a beautiful green. We went last year and it was gorgeous, not least because some amazing friends shared their picnic. Because I’d sorted the tickets, they would be feeding us once more. The bad: I couldn’t organise my own [edited by admin] up at a festival, because, like last year, I’d be the designated driver.

It’s not a disaster, but it is a problem

It’s hardly the saddest story ever told (and perhaps just punishment for my Judas-like behaviour towards London taxis) but it is indicative of so much of what makes navigating the world as, or with, a wheelchair user so exhausting.

You have to plan months in advance and be superhumanly organised – but also flexible. You have to weigh up what’s more important, having a laugh, or being responsible. Spontaneity goes out the window, and woe betide if other wheelchair users got the only accessible taxi before you did. You have to accept that the world isn’t designed with you in mind. It’s certainly a sobering experience, in more ways than one

It's a shame the author didn't suggest a solution.

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IDFIMH

Why didn't she use "her van" that no doubt she gets paid handsomely to drive?

Just as in the rest of the passenger transport world there are busy times when you cant get a Taxi. PH, Train or Plane for love nor money, it's called "Peak time over demand", and "Peak time over demand" is not prejudiced in anyway, It does not discriminate against any part of society whether it be Ability, disability, religion or ethnicity...if there are too many people wanting the same something at the same time as there are of that something being available then someones going to be disappointed when they can't get it when they want it...that's life.


It's no different to Doctors appointments or Hospital treatment, If the waiting list is longer than the system can cope with then some unfortunates will just have wait.

It is quite possible that there were WAVs working in that area which were carrying about the more abled bodied clients because they still needed to work to make a living.

The only way to ensure you beat the rush and find the transport you require is to book ahead.

Now there’s a thought, Dynamic pricing for wheelchair users ??? I can hear the outcry already!

Well, equality is equality regardless of ability because if it's not it becomes a form inequality in itself, there is no way you can treat all people equally if you attempt to treat some preferentially instead of equally as they'll feel they're being discriminated against as not being equal......seemplez.

Maybe that's why the author rang around the local firms as Uber were operating a surge and she didn't want to pay crazy prices for the ride home.

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IDFIMH