People with disabilities should benefit from a taxi service equivalent to that provided to the general population
Back to the press releases listAll taxi service intermediaries should be required to provide persons with disabilities an equivalent service to the one they offer to the public. This is the main recommendation transmitted by Keroul to the members of the Board of Directors of the Bureau du taxi de Montréal last June.
The mayor of Montreal launched a public consultation on both the safety of taxi drivers and the development of the taxi industry, in April 2014. Following the public consultation, on May 21st, the Commission on Transport and Public Works of the City of Montreal recommended the Bureau du taxi de Montréal to : "establish a target by the end of 2014 to significantly increase the number of universal vehicles in the Montreal taxi fleet to meet the growing needs of the elderly or those with physical limitations. "
Representing people with physical disabilities on the Board of the Bureau du taxi de Montréal, Kéroul consulted its colleagues prior to submitting its recommendations. Based on the fundamental rights of persons with disabilities, the social dimension of sustainable development, the public nature of taxi services and the recommendations of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport, Kéroul’s report comes at a pivotal moment.
"For over 30 years we experimented, studied and spoke of accessible taxis: it is time to put words into actions, and considerations into decisions" stresses André Leclerc, CEO and founder of Kéroul. "The transportation of persons with disabilities is an important part of the taxi market. How is it possible to explain that the industry makes so little effort to equip its members with accessible vehicles? This void is filled by new specialty licenses; it is not by opposing to the licensing that a better service will be offered! If necessary, it is by forcing the hand to the industry to take its rightful share," concluded Mr. Leclerc.
Following the deposit of these recommendations, Kéroul has been invited to present its position at the International Association of Transportation Regulators (IATR) annual meeting on September 21 to 24. IATR is preparing a regulation model for its members dealing with the availability of accessible taxis. This model regulations, which included input from regulators from twenty-four (24) municipalities around the world (including Montreal) will also be presented by the IATR President, Mr. Matthew Daus, at the World Summit Destinations for All, to be held in Montreal, October 19-22, 2014.
“We take this exceptional opportunity to present our recommendation for a more inclusive taxi regulation to the local authorities responsible of regulating taxis for the benefit of all their fellow citizens”, said Mr. Daus.
Kéroul’s recommendations are reproduced below. The full report is available (in French) on Kéroul’s website:
https://www.keroul.qc.ca/DATA/TEXTEDOC/RecommandationsKeroul-Taxi-Juin2014.pdf
Kéroul is a non-profit organization founded in 1979 to develop accessible tourism and culture for disabled people.
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Source: Michel Trudel, Kéroul
Information: Marie-Hélène Paradis
514 252-3104, ext. 3575
Kéroul’s recommendations for transport by taxi of people with disabilities
1 - Based on the fundamental principle that people with disabilities must have a taxi service equivalent to the one enjoyed by the entire population, the authorities of Montreal must adopt the necessary measures to ensure the exercise of this right.
2 - The responsibility to provide accessible taxi service on demand, equivalent to that enjoyed by the entire population, must be the responsibility of each of the service intermediaries receiving requisitions from customers and transmitting those demands to the taxi drivers.
3 - To assess the equivalence of accessible taxi service on demand, we recommend a maximum response time of 30 minutes after the call, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 12 months a year. This period is longer than the average waiting time but seems reasonable in the circumstances.
4 - To be able to implement this responsibility to provide an equivalent service, and without diminishing the scope of this principle, all intermediaries taxi service should have a minimum number of accessible taxis; this number should be 10% of the total number of taxis member of the intermediary.
5 - This requirement should be part of the regulation of taxis for the City of Montreal to take effect beginning in 2015.
6 - All Montreal taxis should be members of an intermediary taxi service to participate in the collective effort of the industry to offer this service.
7 - This percentage may be revised annually on the basis of the capacity of the taxi industry to offer a taxi service equivalent to that available to the general population.
8 – Taxi’s restricted license should be released from the constraint to serve persons with disabilities only; the only constraint that should be maintained is the obligation to operate an accessible taxi.
9 - The distinctions between regular and adapted taxi companies should be removed from the regulations, including the requirement to have 25 vehicles.
10 - The restricted taxis should have waiting area’s positions to facilitate their use by persons with disabilities.
11 - All taxi drivers serving the Island of Montreal should have attended a training course on accessible taxi service prior to the next renewal of their work permits.
12 - All taxi drivers serving the Island of Montreal should follow an awareness session to transport elderly or disabled every 5 years. This training should involve persons with disabilities as trainers or speakers.
13 - The Bureau du taxi de Montréal (BTM) must file an information document aimed at taxi drivers and customers indicating the applicable law and the legal rights of each other.
14 - The use of a contractual agreement for the service and pricing must be marked so as not to serve as a pretext for an increased of tariff.
15 - The BTM, the Commission des transports du Québec and intermediaries taxi services should disseminate information on the availability of accessible taxi service to disabled persons, institutions, tourist and cultural institutions and to the entire population simultaneously with the information on the prohibition of increasing the tariff.
16 - BTM, in collaboration with the MTQ should keep a watch on the characteristics of taxi vehicles developed by various manufacturers in the world and regulatory provisions in force in the world.
17 - The development standards for vehicles and facilities for wheelchairs in vehicles should provide a reasonable distance between the person sitting in the wheelchair and the dashboard, to ensure the proper airbag deployment or in relation to the seat of the driver when there are two people in wheelchairs in the vehicle.
18 - The straps, fastening systems and ramps should be checked simultaneously with the mechanical inspection of vehicles.
19 - BTM must restart the Committee's work on the taxi for people with disabilities to develop a work plan over three years and to implement needed improvements to the offer off private taxi services for the aging population and people disabilities.
