More taxis for disabled

By Bridget Brady
A DANDENONG disability centre has praised the announcement of more wheelchair accessible taxis, but says more taxi drivers need to pick up people who use them.
The State Government last week announced 330 new wheelchair accessible taxis would soon hit the roads.
The chairperson of the Disability Resource Centre in Dandenong, Frank Hall- Bentick, said he was pleased about the additional taxis.
“We are very happy that these extra cabs have been put on because we’ve been calling for this for more than 20 years,” Mr Hall-Bentick said.
“But the important thing is to be making sure the drivers actually pick up disabled people and don’t use their licences to do other work.”
Mr Hall-Bentick said it depended on the “goodwill” of a driver as to whether a person with a disability was picked up in a wheelchair accessible taxi.
But Mr Hall-Bentick said the increased number of taxis was good news for people with a disability because their waiting times would decrease.
“Particularly in the outer south east where public transport is not always regular it’s important that every available taxi is used to pick people (with a disability) up.”
People with disabilities waited up to two hours for a taxi at peak times, Mr Hall-Bentick said.
“So these extra vehicles will allow people to be picked up around busy times and not have to wait.”
As part of the changes the Multi Purpose Taxi Program (MPTP) would double the trip cap from $30 to $60 from 13 December.
The MPTP entitles eligible card holders to a 50 per cent subsidy from the government for each taxi trip.
“We’re happy with most of the announcement and we would like to see the government keeping an eye on taxi owners to see they are doing a proper amount of jobs each week.”