This brief article compares the cost, availability, versatility of taxis versus minibuses as a method of providing door to door transport for the disabled. As regards cost, experience in Québec has shown that use of taxis has reduced the average cost of a trip by about 30%. Level of service is greater with taxis, as there are far more of them (8000, as opposed to about 200), and can offer a 24 hour service, every day, all the year round. The time to obtain a reservation, and waiting times, are much shorter. The vehicles are also anonymous, in that they do not automatically identify their passengers as handicapped people. Following legislation which gave taxi companies the right to make contracts with organizations responsible for adapted transport, almost 25% of the paratransit organizations in Québec were using taxis. Now, about 67% are using them. The Québec government has passed legislation to underscore the taxi drivers obligation to assist any customer experiencing obvious difficulty in using the taxi. A training course on the transportation of disabled persons by taxi is also provided, and receives massive support from both the taxi industry as well as technical and financial support from both Québec and the federal government.
Samenvatting