Taxi Driver Online

More Disabled Cabs Needed

3rd October 2008

A Bradford Council review of taxis and private-hire cars has uncovered a “significant lack” of wheelchair-accessible vehicles, despite an industry pledge to gradually increase the number.

After a legal challenge last year over limiting the number of taxi licences to 224, a court ruled the Council could not restrict the number of cars without up-to-date information on demand.

A survey was commissioned which has found that there is “no significant un-met demand” for regular taxis.

However, the study did find that there is a lack of wheelchair-accessible vehicles and the district is a long way behind neighbouring authorities.

In Bradford 11.6 per cent of taxis are wheelchair-accessible, compared to 30.1 per cent in Kirklees, 51.2 per cent in Leeds and 64.6 per cent in Calderdale.

In addition, in 2005, the Bradford Hackney Carriage Owners’ Association agreed to surrender ten existing saloon-vehicles licences a year to be replaced with specific licences for wheelchair-accessible vehicles until 2010. If the required number are not surrendered and reissued in this way, additional licenses can be issued for cars with wheelchair access.

But the review notes that: “The trade have failed to deliver their commitment of ‘surrendering’ ten plates per annum and only 12 plates have been converted to WAVs since November 2005.”

On top of this the Council has only issued new licence plates for a single wheelchair-accessible vehicle – which was the result of the legal challenge in 2007 – but Bharjis Qayum, who took the Council to court, has not claimed the plate.

The Council’s regulatory and appeals committee will be asked on Monday to either issue extra plates to make up the shortfall of wheelchair-accessible vehicles to the number previously pledged, or to bring forward the date by two years from 2010, compelling all newly-licensed vehicles to be wheelchair accessible.


Source; Bradford Telegraph & Argus

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

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Who in their right mind wants to get rid of a saloon car costing £11000 brand new, ie a skodia octavia or a second hand car from the auctions costing £4000. The other option being comitting financial suicide by buying a ridiculously priced and unsafe WAV like the fire prone TX4 which has a starting price of £28000?????????