In 1981 carbodies ltd, (now renamed london taxis international ltd), manufacturers of the fx4 london taxi-cab, commenced development of a replacement model capable of carrying a passenger in a wheelchair. The department of transport purchased two early protoypes in order to carry out field trials from mid-1982 to mid-1984. The vehicles were issued to four organisations in different towns, to be operated by them as if they owned them. In 643 operational vehicle-days during the monitored period they made over 10 000 passenger journeys, 2800 of which were by disabled people. This report describes the four operations, presents the operating statistics, collates the views and comments of operators and passengers, and reports the results of ancillary studies made in connection with the ergonomic design of the prototype vehicle. (Author/publisher)
Abstract