Coventry taxi owners have been left bemused by their local council’s refusal to allow a fair choice of vehicles for use as hackney taxis.
Since 2008, the council has been ‘reviewing’ the issue – but says it still can’t reach a decision. This leaves Coventry as one of the only areas in the UK where taxi owners are still left to suffer as a result of a protected market, with minimal competiton.
Taxi Choice
The only new cabs currently available to Coventry taxi drivers are the old-style London cab and the ultra-expensive One80 Vito taxi. Official vehicle registration figures provided by the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT) show that, despite being put together locally, only a handful of TX4s and even fewer Vito taxis have been sold in Coventry over the past two years.
This means that, as well as Coventry cabbies are getting a raw deal, the travelling public is faced with an ageing taxi fleet. In addition, many disabled passengers who need to travel in their wheelchair are unable to go by taxi, since existing vehicles make it so difficult to load and secure wheelchairs safely.
Coventry City Council, however, refuses to allow more affordable, efficient and accessible taxis like the Peugeot E7 – now the most popular in the UK – to operate in Coventry.
Expensive Study
Following five years of inaction, the city council last year commissioned an 89-page detailed study, from Jacobs Consultants, which revealed that: “for users who are relatively large and / or have large wheelchairs, the inability to turn the chair within the LTC/LTI TX4 vehicle prevents the wheelchair being secured properly”.
The £34,000 report went on to state that widening the fleet to include alternative vehicles could help improve wheelchair access. This prompted the Council to propose amended taxi licensing conditions which would embrace a wider range of vehicles.
Legal Advice
Despite widespread support for this proposal among the taxi trade and disabled people, the council has twice deffered taking a decision and now says it has no specific timetable as to when it might eventully do so. However the Council has now been sent legal advice stating that any further delay would be unlawful.
Coventry resident Nicky Ward, whose son Keaton (14) is a wheelchair user, remains frustrated by the ongoing delay.
Nicky commented: “Coping with disability brings a host of additional challenges and expense for families but Keaton and I still try to live as full a life as possible.
“In theory, public hire taxis should be the ideal way for us to get out and about,” continues Ms. Ward. “They’re available at all hours, provide a door-to-door service and can be hired at a rank or on the street without having to pre-plan every journey.
“Unfortunately we can’t fit Keaton and his wheelchair in the existing local cabs, so taxis are off the agenda for us, until the Council does something to address this issue.”
Nicky’s view is backed up by the local Coventry Taxi Association.
Chairman Tommy Sandhu said: “Taxi drivers want to offer the best possible service to residents and visitors in the city. This means disabled people too but everyone in the business knows that the traditional black cabs just aren’t suitable for many wheelchair users.”