Taxi Driver Online

This item should really be in the licensing and legal section but I'll put it in here because there is an element of news about it.

If you recall in October 2006 Sussex highlighted the possible changes in Norwich in respect of removing the Turning circle which would in effect allow other types of wheelchair accessible vehicles to be licensed.

DfT best practice is that councils should not limit vehicle choice to one or two specific manufacturers?

Thanks to a certain member who provided me with the following links I can inform everyone that the situation is about to be resolved at a meeting of the Norwich Regulatory committee on 13/11/07

There are three pdf files containing submissions and reports from various parties including those who we have become accustomed to as being against choice in order to protect their individual interests.

I'm going to leave you to draw your own conclusions but I must warn you that the files sizes are quite large, two at one MB and one at three MB.

The initial thread started by Sussex in October

http://taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4657

The three reports for download as follows.

http://www.norwich.gov.uk/webapps/meeti ... d=1868&id=

Regards

JD

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JD will you be reminding the council of the best practice guidance
Also Liverpool who are doing the same thing

The LO report does actually mention the DfT best practice, however It seems that LTI has rolled out the dead and the dying in order to get its point across and it would appear the applicant has all the odds stacked against him.

Regards

JD

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Propaganda of the lowest kind.

http://www.easier.com/view/News/Motorin ... 47225.html

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IDFIMH

"A survey undertaken by Taxiwise, a national campaign group promoting taxi safety, reveals that people are happy with the current stringent rules governing the issuing of taxi licences"

Aren't taxiwise funded by LTI?

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

Goebels himself would have been proud of this tripe.

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

I didn't mention it because I was wondering who might pick up on it but the links to the reports I posted contains a response from the Spinal injuries association. There is a personal letter from one of the authors of the report supporting the retention of LTI vehicles and the exclusion of the E7. When I read this report several days ago this SIA report jumped out at me like a sore thumb. The reason being is that it is so pro LTI that I thought there had to be an ulterior motive. I phoned the person concerned who happens to be a solicitor in Manchester and asked him if he had any involvement in the Taxi Trade and whether he had been asked to support the exclusion of the E7 in Norwich. I also asked him what prompted him to send his report to Norwich uninvited? I also asked him if he had read the DfT Loughborough report into wheelchair accessible vehicles, which he said he had never heard off? I'll copy and post the letter when I return later tonight but we have to ask ourselves why a person with disabilities should ask for only one type of vehicle be licensed and that all others be excluded.

I did invite the gentleman to avail himself of the facilities of TDO so perhaps at some stage he might enlighten us as to why he is so pro LTI because the answers he gave to me, were totally unconvincing?

Regaards

JD

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The letter sent by Mr Johnathan Fogerty of SIA to the Norwich LO for inclusion in their report on WAV provision.

Mr Fogerty says, "I understand that there may be pressure on your local authority for you to amend your standards of licensing from using only LTI TXII, (London style cabs) to allow a wider range of vehicles."

I wonder how Mr Fogerty got to understand? And why he presumes that Norwich council only allow TX2 vehicles to be licensed?
____________________________

Mr Jonathan Fogerty
14 The Tarns
Gatley
Cheadle
Cheshire
SK8 4RU

Tel: 0161 491 4701 07762 052693

jonathanfogerty@hotmaiI.com

9th August 2007

Mr Ian Streeter
Senior Licensing Officer
Norwich City Council
City Hall
St Peters Street
Norwich, NR2 INH

Dear Mr Streeter

Re: Wheelchair Accessible Taxis

I write to you to express my concern over possible amendments to your standards of licensing which would allow a range of vehicles to be used as taxis rather than the LT1 TXII, (London style cab).

By way of background information, I am a tetraplegic wheelchair user and paralysed from the chest down. My disability is the result of a spinal cord injury. I have been a wheelchair user for nearly twenty years.

I am a qualified solicitor, practising with a firm in the centre of Manchester. I am also a trustee of the Spinal Injuries Association, (SIA). I have been a member of the SIA since my injury and I have been involved as a trustee for the past eight years.

The Spinal Injuries Association. (SIA) is the national charity in the UK working to help those with a spinal cord injury. The SIA currently has over 5.000 members, the majority of whom are wheelchair users. There are over 40,000 spinal cord injured people in the UK all with similar disabilities and transport needs to those of our members. SIA provides a range of information and support services to enable members to lead full and independent lives. SIA also campaigns on issues that affect
those with a spinal cord injury.

I am sure you appreciate that wheelchair accessible, taxis provide a vital link for thousands of disabled people, Many who are unable to drive rely on accessible taxis to meet their everyday transport needs-

Inadequate or a lack of accessible taxis often results in social exclusion and isolation for wheelchair users, The suitability of accessible taxis is therefore of considerable interest to SIA and its members.

As a result, a group of SIA trustees, including myself, recently undertook a comparative study of the two most widely used accessible taxis, namely the LTI -TXII, (London style cab) and the previous version of the Allied Vehicles Peugeot 1;7.

Having studied both vehicles, a comprehensive report was compiled detailing the findings. For your in formation a copy of the report is attached. We have not seen the new E7 in detail at this stage-

I understand that there may be pressure on your local authority for you to amend your standards of licensing from using only LTI TXII, (London style cabs) to allow a wider range of vehicles. Naturally, one would hope that a wider range of vehicles might improve accessibility for disabled people and, indeed, it was on this basis that the SIA undertook the comparative study in the first place. You will see from the attached report however, that this is not always the case and in practice, where authorities use only LTI TXI1, (London style cabs) wheelchair users are better served by these purpose built taxis rather than convened vehicles, similar to that considered in the report attached.

I must make it clear that the SIA does not seek to promote one manufacturer over another. The SIA is interested only in ensuring that those wheelchair accessible taxis that are available are safe and accessible to the widest range of users. Where there are no accessible taxis any improvement would be welcome, provided it is a safe and sensible option. However, in a city such as Norwich where the taxi fleet is already accessible and built to a high standard I would be very concerned if I thought that standards of accessibility would be affected to the detriment of wheelchair users.

The specific issues I would draw your attention to are:-

• Step height (Sill)

• Ramp height and length

• The provision of a swivel scat for the ambulant disabled

• Headroom and door width for wheelchairs entering the vehicle

• Passenger visibility from within the vehicle

• Sliding doors

Obviously if the new E7 and similar versions of this base vehicle do have a lower silt or shorter ramp then that would he beneficial. but I am not sure if it does. I do understand however, that there is no swivel scat and the vehicles still have sliding doors, so many of the issues mentioned above still seem to need addressing.

The experience of London and those other cities that use purpose built taxis is that wheelchair users, such as SIA's members, have little difficulty using a purpose built taxi vehicle. It is a necessity for passengers to always take the first cab on the rank and it is therefore vitally important that disabled people have the certainty that they can safely and easily access the next taxi vehicle. Disabled passengers, wheelchair users and in particular SIA members already have this certainty in Norwich I feel sure that with time, converted taxis will continue to improve, but in Norwich I am of the opinion that wheelchair users and S I A members, in particular, are currently well served by the existing taxi fleet-

I trust you will consider the attached report and I ask you to retain this high standard that you have set for accessible taxis.

Yours sincerely
Jonathan Fogerty
Spinal Injuries Association, (SIA) Trustee
Solicitor (BA Hons, DipL)
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Considering that he's a solicitor he should know that under consumer rights legislation customers do NOT have to take the front cab at a rank

it sounds to me from that letter that the tests centred around ease of access for electric wheelchairs rather than all wheelchairs I could be wrong though

I don't think the wheelchair disabled own many TX2's do you? So what vehicle do they use when they are traveling from A to B when not in a Taxi?

The Loughborough report said all the WAV vehicles they tested were more than adequate for the wheelchair disabled, including the Doblo, so it makes you wonder why this gentleman wants you all to spend nearly 30 grand on a TX2 or perhaps a Tx4?

Regards

JD

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