Fife Council has announced the immediate scrappage of the concessionary Taxicard which has been benefiting thousands of disabled people across the region for the past 20 years.
The Taxicard Scheme
The Taxicard Scheme is for Fife residents who are registered blind or in receipt of Disability Living Allowance, allowing them to be travel by taxi at a discounted rate.
Cardholders receive eighty vouchers per year and each voucher is worth up to half of the price of the journey. If the journey costs £4.00 or less the traveller will be entitled to a half price discount but on longer journeys, the discount is capped at £2.
Tough Choices
At a recent budget meeting it was announced that Fife Council was facing “tough choices” as it worked towards saving £91 million over the next three years.
Councillor’s fought to save concessionary bus and rail travel for pensioners but agreed that costs could be saved by removing the Taxicard Scheme – a decision that has been criticised by many.
“Residents in a lot of areas depend on the Taxicard to travel to doctors’ appointments and the likes.”
Removing a Lifeline
Taxi operator, Pete Meldrum, said: “These people are probably some of the most vulnerable people in Fife and I really don’t think this has been thought through properly.
“Fife Council operates an overstretched Ring and Ride service which is free to use. However, it doesn’t cover all of Fife. Residents in a lot of areas depend on the Taxicard to travel to doctors’ appointments and the likes.”
The latest statistics show that there are over 5,700 users of the scheme and last year approximately 150,000 journeys were made at a cost of £276,000 to Fife Council. It’s predicted that the removal of the Taxicard Scheme will result in a saving of around £350,000.
Councillor Pat Callaghan said: “We understand taxi journeys may have become an important part of life for some residents of Fife. Obviously, they’re still free to use these services but unfortunately the council can no longer afford to contribute up to £2 per journey towards fares.”