Taxi Driver Online

Read the article here:

http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/dundee4.htm

Discuss the issues below!

I would say that such 'on the hoof' policies are widespread.

Because in the past 'turning a blind eye' has the been the norm. When anyone starts to tinker with things, they find that can't and the only way forward is wholesale change.

Hopefully the OFT study will be the root and branch overhaul, that many of us have been asking for years.

Alas many others have been asking for no change, which is perhaps why we are in the current situation.

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IDFIMH

I run a wheelchair taxi service in Dundee and six months ago purchased a Fiat Freedom, wheelchair accessible vehicle.

This vehicle fits in with the other vehicles that are used within the company. It is the smallest(four seats), or running as a wheelchair accessible, two passengers plus wheelchair passenger.

It gives me an option not to send a Euro 7 which is more costlier to run and mantain, if the customer is not going out with family or friends, maybe just a carer.

With the extras I had to put onto this vehicle to make it up to my speck, for my customers, it cost including finance, the latter at a good rate, £18,500.

This as you can see is not a cheap wheelchair vehicle,albeit,cheaper than the Euro, but still with the dead mileage I do, still find it costly to run.

The grant money is not given to pay the vehicle, but to help with the dead mileage, which I find horrific.

And if you think you will make your fortune in this field, think again.

Also to receive the grant money you have to be in the taxicard scheme and prove that you are doing the work.

Good luck lads.

Thats not for a wav £18,000.
Not much more than a new mondeo.
But dont tell the department of transport or we will all be having them.

Thanks for the comments WAV operator.

Please note that I'm not wholly against subsidies, as I mentioned in the article, and encouraging people to run WAVs in this way is a lot better than discriminatory conditions being imposed on operators by the council.

Another point is the way that this was communicated via a throwaway line in the Tele, which seemed to raise some hackles with the public. And even many in the trade seem unaware of exactly how the subsidies will work. Even the explanation from the council published afterwards did not add much in the way of clarity as regards things like the dead mileage mentioned in your response.

If the subsidies are limited to only those doing a certain number of WAV jobs then there will presumably be only a reasonably small number of WAVs since wheelchair work is limited, so if there are WAVs without subsidies then they are presumably doing little chair work (if any) so why are they required? And if subsidies are limited then hire plates for saloon cars will presumably remain.

Even worse, if all the current saloons have to go WAV then an even smaller proportion will be doing wheelchair work and Dundee will be full of unused and unsubsidised WAVs which are neither popular with much of the public nor the trade.

And a large PH sector might arise as well, which might well cause a whole host of other problems such as plying for hire given the reduction in taxi availability cause by requiring WAVs.

Lets face the truth.
In a few years time all taxis will be wheel chair accessible.
Instaed of whinging about it why dont we try to get a subsidie like the bus people.

Cannot see us receiving the subsidies that the Bus companies
receives,but what about fuel subsidies,that would be a better way
and fairer.