The Labour Group are proposing a motion to tackle the lack of accessible taxis
across Gloucester.

Labour City Councillors are taking action to address the dire lack of wheelchair
accessible taxis across Gloucester after hearing about the impact of the situation on
the life of a Gloucester resident. Emily Hoddy, who lives in Gloucester with her
husband James, has been asking the City Council to take action for several years.
“Getting around Gloucester without a car as a disabled person isn’t easy” Emily said.
“To see family members using public transport could be three buses, and a place to
set your wheelchair isn’t guaranteed. On multiple occasions I have had to wait for
more than two buses during commuter hours and that has made me late for work.
We have a government who wants disabled people to work, yet their own councils
cannot provide transport for us to do exactly that.”

Across England and Wales, 17.8% of people live with a disability. If those figures are
applied to Gloucester, that equates to around 22,000 people who would benefit from
accessible transport. Currently, whilst there are wheelchair accessible taxis licensed
by the City Council, most only operate during daytime hours and many of those
concentrate on providing specialist services to schools, colleges and other day time
projects.

Emily said that, “I just want to go out for a meal with my husband, or nights out with
my friends, without a curfew enforced by taxis and public transport. It’s ridiculous that
in 2024 we have only a handful of disabled taxis that operate 9-5 Monday to
Saturday. It’s isolating for me and for my husband- this motion would make a positive
impact for people across Gloucester, young and old, and make the lives of those
around them significantly easier too.”

The Labour Group on Gloucester City Council are proposing that the council:

• Provide business rate discounts to taxi operators who can ensure 17.8% of
  their vehicles are wheelchair accessible and operate them at all times of the
  day.
• Offer a registration rebate to operators who provide accessible vehicles in the
  evenings and during weekends.
• Provide free, quality disability awareness training to operators and drivers to
  enable them to safely transport disabled people.
• Review and increase the percentage of accessible available for public use,
  particularly during the evenings and at weekends.

The motion will be presented at this week’s full City Council meeting, on
Thursday 25 th January. This is the first time that a City Council meeting will be
livestreamed for public viewing. To watch the meeting live from 6.30pm, head
to youtube.com/@GloucesterCityCouncilMeetings/streams.