A wheelchair user missed his grandson’s baptism after a pre-booked taxi failed to arrive, prompting renewed calls for more wheelchair-accessible services.
Phil Broad, 69, had booked a wheelchair-accessible Maxi Taxi with his wife Frances several days before the August 16 service, arranging three pickups for the day.
Mr Broad, who is a partial quadriplegic and right leg amputee, lives at Sundale nursing home in Nambour and said the outing was particularly significant after spending two years bedridden.
“To our extreme disappointment the first taxi never arrived, and subsequently we missed the baptism of our grandson and the joy of the parents and friends,” he said.
“I rang nearly every half hour for an update, and received a rote answer, ‘It’s Sunday, we haven’t many Maxi Taxis available. The supervisors are working on it’.
“At 11.05am, we gave up waiting as I was feeling distressed.”
Mr Broad said the couple had provided advance notice in an effort to make the journey easier to arrange.
“It’s very concerning for disabled people with a flight to catch, or medical appointments,” he said.
Suncoast Cabs has recently been acquired by Black & White Cabs and is now part of its national fleet.
Black & White Cabs Sunshine Coast general manager Adam Stewart said he would like to sincerely apologise to Mr and Mrs Broad, while confirming the company had been unable to secure an accessible vehicle for the booking.
“We appreciate how upsetting and disappointing it must have been to miss their grandson’s baptism,” he said.
Mr Stewart said the incident reflected broader challenges facing wheelchair-accessible transport services on the Sunshine Coast.
“Demand for wheelchair-accessible taxi services has increased significantly over recent years as the Sunshine Coast’s population has grown, the community has aged and demand for accessible transport services, including through the NDIS, has increased,” he said.
“However, the number of wheelchair-accessible taxi licences available to service the Sunshine Coast, which are issued and regulated by the Queensland Government, has remained unchanged since 2012 despite this substantial growth in demand.”
There are currently 28 wheelchair-accessible taxi licences issued to operators on the Sunshine Coast, with two not currently operating a vehicle.
“Black & White Cabs and the wider taxi industry have consistently raised concerns with government about the shortage of wheelchair-accessible taxi licences across Southeast Queensland and the impact this is having on service availability for mobility-impaired passengers and the broader community,” Mr Stewart said.
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He said operators and drivers were working to meet demand but could be limited by the number of available vehicles.
“The industry’s ability to improve service levels is ultimately constrained by the number of licences made available by the Queensland Government to operate these specialised services.”
Mr Stewart said the company would continue reviewing its booking and dispatch processes.
“We also recognise that customers who rely on wheelchair-accessible transport place a high level of trust in pre-booked services,” he said.
“We sincerely regret the disappointment and inconvenience this caused and apologise to Mr and Mrs Broad for the experience they had.”
A Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) spokesperson said about 20 per cent of all taxi licences in Queensland were wheelchair-accessible taxi (WAT) licences.
“The Queensland Government also continues to support WAT operators through the WAT Grant Scheme, which provides up to 50 per cent of the cost of replacing aging or written-off wheelchair accessible vehicles,” a TMR spokesperson said.
A significant number of existing taxi licences across Queensland have also become inactive, alongside ongoing concerns about the impact additional licence releases may have on existing licence values.
TMR encourages taxi licence holders to return inactive licences to operational as the first step towards increasing taxi availability.
