Wheelchair Accessible Taxi

jtk174

Anyone got experience of booking a wheelchair accessible taxi in the general Belfast area? I tried 1 taxi firm and they said they would take the booking but could not guarantee it would arrive on time! Is this the norm?
Its for my sister who has just started to use a wheelchair and is now in a panic.

ballyblack

http://www.valuecabs.co.uk/taxi-fares

jtk174

Unfortunately, it was ValueCabs that I rang.

jtk174

I tried Fonacab and they said exactly the same thing! They cannot guarantee a taxi, even if you book it in advance.

bingo_bango

I know a wheelchair bound colleague who gets a taxi every Friday at the same time to lift her from the office. Not sure if it is a local solo driver or large firm though. I'll have a look next time he's up here.

freddiemae

Am I alone in thinking this is appalling? If taxi companies have a disabled taxi then surely they can send it on time.

Surely this is a matter for a Disability commission or MLA?

Taxis would not get away with saying this to an able-bodied customer.

saverbuyer

freddiemae wrote: »

Am I alone in thinking this is appalling? If taxi companies have a disabled taxi then surely they can send it on time.

Surely this is a matter for a Disability commission or MLA?

Taxis would not get away with saying this to an able-bodied customer.

So they should have a fleet of wheelchair accessible taxis just waiting on the off chance that they'll get a call.


Come on! The drivers are self employed, they can't guarantee the time because their numbers are limited. Every minute the taxi hasn't got a passenger is a minute the self employed driver isn't making money.


It's to cover the company if a driver gets another job before the pickup time they can still take the job and earn money. It's not discrimination, it's because here are only so many WAVs on the road.


Only in Northern Ireland.

bingo_bango

Have checked with the driver as above and they are happy to arrange times (they have several wheelchair accessible vehicles apparently). Only one slight snag is that they're based in Ards! He did explain that they do also work in Belfast though (I met him at Stormont), so might be worth pricing them up.

Castlebawn taxis - 9182 7222

jtk174

Thanks. It's worth a phone call for sure.

jtk174

freddiemae wrote: »

Am I alone in thinking this is appalling? If taxi companies have a disabled taxi then surely they can send it on time.

Surely this is a matter for a Disability commission or MLA?

Taxis would not get away with saying this to an able-bodied customer.

You are not alone. It was my first thought!

PasturesNew

The thing is, taxi companies often have 0 taxis. Taxi companies operate an office, a phone and a radio. Drivers are charged fixed fees, or based on bookings taken for them, or some other similar system.

A driver qualifies, gets his own car, chooses his own hours and works through a taxi office/company.

The car is his. When he's not working, he's shopping at Tesco in it, or on holiday. They are self-employed. They choose their hours.

He might be sick, or the car needs repairing. That's why there can be no guarantees. The cars are not sitting around, specifically ear-marked and waiting for a disabled person to require one.