Taxi and private hire trade representatives and a disability support group addressed councillors before they made decisions on proposals to boost the number of wheelchair accessible cars.
Fees and car age limits for taxi and private hire drivers with wheelchair accessible vehicles in East Renfrewshire are being dropped after a sharp fall in availability.
After hearing from drivers and a disability support group at a meeting last month, the licensing committee decided to remove age limits for WAVs, which will be subject to annual inspections. A council report revealed that, at that time, there were 40 WAVs in East Renfrewshire, but that has “dropped dramatically both as a result of lapsed licences and drivers replacing WAVs” with other vehicles when they renewed their licence.
His firm’s cars can take passengers whose wheelchairs fold down, but anyone with a fixed wheelchair would probably need to book “a week in advance”. John Paul Duffy, from the Scottish Private Hire Association, said demand for WAVs was “noticeably low” while the financial burden for drivers is “substantial… particularly amid the cost of living crisis”.
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