Thought I'd posted this yesterday in response to the Gloucester stuff about the council trying to organise WAV availability. But wondered where it had disappeared to
I must have pressed the 'edit' button in error, as opposed to 'quote'. So it basically edited an old post rather than created a new one, thus wasn't bumped up to the top of the list of threads. So I've moved the stuff below from the post above, and the old post above has disappeared for good, and this is the new one. I'd guess they're pretty much saying the same thing, so the permanent loss of the post above won't really affect the course of human history
Early in 2021, Cheltenham Borough Councillor Martin Horwood (LD, Leckhampton), the authority’s member for customer and regulatory services, wrote:
“In the meantime, I also want to deliver an immediate and significant increase in the availability of taxis for wheelchair users in Cheltenham. To make this happen we are in discussions with an app developer to make it much easier for wheelchair users in Cheltenham to hail one of the 70 wheelchair accessible hackney cabs we already have.”
Later in 2021, Cheltenham Borough Council wrote:
The council has launched a 4 week consultation which asks all licensed taxi drivers about proposals for schemes to promote better availability of licensed wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAVs)
Cheltenham Borough Council wants to harness technology in the most effective way, and to promote and roll out a ride hailing app to help wheelchair users to access hackney carriage WAVs more easily.[...]
Cllr Martin Horwood, member for regulatory services, said:[...] “The idea of a ride-hailing app is an exciting idea that I want to see taken up in Cheltenham. We have a duty to ensure that service provision is available to all and this includes taxis being suitable and sufficient for those with disabilities. We are now putting forward formal proposals in relation to the app, which we hope will gain a good response from the public and provide long term solutions for those currently impacted by the current shortfall in wheelchair accessible vehicles.”
Funnily enough, the council that wanted to develop the WAV-only app I mentioned in the Gloucester thread [yesterday] was Cheltenham, which according to the maps are basically two large 100,000+ towns more or less side-by-side
But I wonder what ever happened to the app?
Can't be bothered looking into it, but all I can see on the council's website is the usual list of WAVs, and a few drivers have provided their mobile numbers. So instead of this all-singing, all-dancing app, looks like about eight out of 100 WAV HCDs have provided their mobile numbers. Sounds about right.
And what's the betting none of them would choose to run a WAV anyway if they could run a saloon
https://www.cheltenham.gov.uk/info/13/p ... ible_taxis