Hi all
The Department for Transport has been looking at the issue of 'accessible' taxis in preparation for proposals for the Taxi Accessibility Regulations under Part 5 of the DDA. The long awaited consultation on this should be out in 2005 ....
You may also find useful the DPTAC (Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee) publication Making Private Hire Services Accessible to Disabled People, A Good Practice Guide - available on the DPTAC website - on the web site click on taxis
regards,
Carol
Carol Thomas
JMU Access Partnership
________________________________
From: Accessibuilt list on behalf of Marcus Ormerod
Sent: Fri 11/02/2005 08:37
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ACCESSIBUILT] Accessible Taxis
Hi Dorothy and Lynn
I would tend to agree that it is in the terminology used. We make things "accessible" for a particular person or impairment and this tends to be a retrofit situation to an existing design. In other words "now we have designed the vehicle how do we change it to make it accessible for wheelchair users?" An alternative approach is "inclusive design" and the starting point should be "ok so we want a vehicle that is as inclusive as possible what are the diversity issues that we need to address in the design of the vehicle". The hard bit is trying to overcome conflicts in the design between the requirements of differing impairments and also the practicalities of the object being designed. However, there are less chances for going back to the drawing board to start from scratch and more chances to alter what already exists, but this does perpetuate accessible solutions rather than inclusive designs.
Regards
Marcus
-----Original Message-----
From: Accessibuilt list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Lynn Jeffries
Sent: 10 February 2005 16:10
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ACCESSIBUILT] Accessible Taxis
Hi Dorothy,
I can't answer your question but I'd like to ask the group a related question on what exactly we mean by 'accessible taxi's'.
The reason I ask is that the major taxi firm where I live have a plan to make all their cabs 'accessible'. By this they mean 'black cabs'. I am very aware that for a number of disabled people with walking impairments, back injuries ect, black cabs present a real barrier to getting in and out because of the high step. This came as a real surprise to the cab firm owner as he was trying to ensure access for all
Perhaps the problem lies in the terminology. Should we be referring to 'wheelchair accessible' cabs?
Any thoughts anyone?
Many thanks
Lynn
----- Original Message -----
From: Dorothy Wilson <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2005 2:27 PM
Subject: [ACCESSIBUILT] Accessible Taxis
Has any local authority officers any experience of assessment proeedures for
accessible taxis for licencing purposes. Are their any manufacturers out
there of truely accessible vehicles (i.e. disabled person including
wheelchair user can enter and leave unassisted/ independently) and is there
recognised criteria available which can be realistically applied to
currently maunfactured vehicles.
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