Transport for people with disabilities

is a constant concern. Here we have something called an "access cab" service - a taxi service for people who use wheelchairs. There are about one hundred such vehicles across the metropolitan areas. They are small vans with a lifting platform. Their use is under discussion in today's paper.

We have used one of these more than once to get the Senior Cat to the dentist or a medical appointment when it is not possible for Middle Cat to get him in and out of the car. It is fast getting to the point where it will not be possible to get him in and out of the car at all - even though Middle Cat knows far more than most people about how that can be achieved.  

Relying on access vehicles though is fraught with difficulties. There are not enough of them and they also get used for other purposes. 

I have friends who must use them. They can go nowhere without using one. All too often it means they go nowhere at all. Even with the government subsidy they are much more expensive to use than public transport. My friends don't have the sort of disposable income that allows them to use cabs on a regular basis. When they do go out it tends to be medical appointments or some of other essential appointment.  

All too often although the cab has been booked in advance it will arrive late, often very late. Recently one friend had to wait almost two hours in a very cold location. Where other people might find an alternative it wasn't possible for him. He couldn't even go and get himself a hot drink from the cafe across the street. 

The cabs do "school runs" - taking children with disabilities to and from school. It might be regular but it isn't popular with some drivers. Other drivers like to do it but it means that they need to turn down other jobs because the school run gets priority.

Middle Cat knows one driver well. She knew him long before we needed an access cab for the Senior Cat.  He works long hours. He is also a kindly and concerned man who actually chose to drive an access cab rather than a regular cab. If Middle Cat lets him know no later than the day before she can be almost certain he will be there. If he is running late he will let her know and, because they both know things can happen, they are aware that she has included the likelihood of a short delay in her calculations. All that though depends on a personal relationship - something most people don't have. It depends on Middle Cat being flexible about getting the Senior Cat to his destination. That's not always possible for some people.

The whole system needs a rethink. People with disabilities should have the right to the same level of transport services that other people have but it doesn't work that way. The way the system works just further isolates too many people who are already more isolated than most. I can quite understand why some access cab drivers are only too happy to accept a call to drive multiple people and their luggage to the airport instead of taking one person to the hospital for a medical appointment.  It's a matter of what we are prepared to pay for the service - and how much we value the most vulnerable people in the community.