By Halima Mautbur
Disabled people in Ottawa might be moving a lot faster if the federal government speeds up certification of the London Taxi, says Bell-South Nepean Coun. Jan Harder.
“I think about how it would have improved my own mom and dad’s quality of life after my dad had a stroke,” says Harder. “There’s a real need for it. There are those who will use it.”
The taxis offer a folding ramp, side-entry for wheelchairs, lower floors, higher roofs, brightly coloured door handles and other features for the visually impaired, child seats and an intercom system specially designed to work with hearing aids.
Harder and other councillors have been fighting for these taxis for two years.
Last December, their efforts resulted in the provincial government amending Highway Traffic Act regulations, allowing the use of the London Taxi as a side-entry vehicle.
However, all of that hinges on whether the taxis meet Transport Canada’s safety and emissions standards. Without federal certification, the London Taxi cannot be used anywhere in Canada.
But according to François Asselin, a spokesperson for Transport Canada, the taxi manufacturer has not yet filed a request with the ministry to undergo assessment.
This may create problems for Harder’s most recent effort to bring the cabs into Ottawa — a letter from city council requesting the Minister of Transportation, David Collenette, accelerate the certification process.
Asselin says that right now, there is nothing to accelerate. “We are currently in waiting mode,” he said, adding that he can’t speculate on how long certification will take.
Not everyone in Ottawa is convinced that the London Taxi cabs are a good idea.
Antonio El-Khoury, who runs Ottawa’s only accessible taxi vans with West-Way Taxi, says a majority of the disabled use Para Transpo rather than taxis.
He says his service uses reservations, but also provides on-demand service for emergencies or if not otherwise booked.
But Charles Matthews, president of Disabled and Proud, an organization that represents disabled people in Ottawa, disagrees with El-Khoury.
He says demand will likely increase when guaranteed immediate service is provided.
“If you have a choice of pre-booking a taxi and paying cab fares, or pre-booking ParaTranspo and paying bus fares, then of course people are going to take ParaTranspo,” he says.
According to Matthews, around 90,000 disabled people live in Ottawa.
“For (those in wheelchairs), the blind and the deaf, the London Taxis far outreach the standard (car) taxis,” he says, adding that vans like El-Khoury’s are also needed.
But El-Khoury says there are also mechanical drawbacks to the London Taxi cabs, including low floors unable to endure Ottawa’s speed bumps and insufficient space for larger scooters and electric wheelchairs.
However, Hanif Patni, president of Coventry Connections, which owns Blue Line Taxi, says the majority of wheelchairs will fit inside the London cabs.
Patni is currently considering purchasing 12 of the taxis, but will also add three modified vans to his fleet.
City council approved 25 additional licence plates for accessible cabs in 2001. Harder says that she hopes other companies will pick up the remaining available plates and run accessible services, once the cabs are approved.
Both Harder and Patni say they hope the certification process will be completed in time for the cabs to be on the streets by summer.
The London Taxi cabs will be able to serve both the general public and the disabled, although priority will be given to the disabled, says Patni.
He adds that fares for the new cabs will be the same as the rest of his taxi fleet.