People in North Yorkshire are being urged to share their views to help ensure there are enough wheelchair accessible taxis across the county.
Research shows that there is a shortage of wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAVs) licensed as taxis in North Yorkshire. The council licenses about 70 vehicles, which represents one for every 9,000 residents.
Although WAV provision is typically lower in rural authorities than in urban areas, the best performing rural authorities make provision for one WAV for every 2,000 to 3,000 people. To reach a similar ratio, the council would need to license around 200 more WAVs.
In recent years, the former borough and district licensing authorities tried to increase the number of WAVs in their respective localities but there has been little uptake.
Therefore, the council has identified several options to increase the number of WAVs across the county, and welcome people’s views on what they believe might be the most suitable.
The council is also asking people to share their views on the draft Inclusive Service Plan (ISP).
The ISP focuses on the needs of people whose access requirements are apparent when using public transport, such as wheelchair users and assistance dog owners, but also on the needs of people with less visible disabilities.
North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for licensing, Cllr Greg White, said:
“We recognise the difficulties that passengers who need accessible vehicles face daily. It can affect their mental health and leave them isolated, so we need to ensure the trade serves everybody, regardless of age, disability, gender, race, religion, or sex.
“We recognise that taxis should be accessible to all, and we need to strike a balance that supports users and is feasible for the trade to adopt.
“Although WAV provision is typically lower in rural authorities than in urban areas, we know that we can do better.
“I would urge as many taxi users as possible and people from the trade to share their views so we can form a policy which is welcomed by all.”
The council is also seeking views on changes to the hackney carriage and private hire licensing policy. Although this is targeted at the trade, anybody can share their views.
This could include changes to age limits, issuing restricted private hire driver licences, reducing the frequency of driver medical assessments, and assessing the minimum luggage space that is required.
The consultation will run until Wednesday, April 30. Details can be found at https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/taxi-consultation
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