Northern Territory Taxi drivers get more cash to transport disabled

28 Nov 2012: A lot of people with disabilities use taxis as their only mode of transport to get around as they do not have access to a family car that they can roll their electric wheelchairs into.

I found a very interesting article on the net that relates to taxi transport for people with disabilities in the Northern Territory: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-14/wheelchair-taxi-scheme-changes-adam-giles/4372074

My problem is with Transport Minister, Adam Giles', attitude towards people with disabilities. I believe, that through his language he sees people with disabilities as second class citizens and that incentives need to be put in place for the taxi drivers to pick them up (and here I go again on the incentive bandwagon – hmmm?)

Adam Giles also went on to say that “the number of cab trips disabled people can take has also been increased from 120 to 180 a year.” Wow! I can now go out 3 days a week one week and four days the next! What if I were to live in Darwin, choose to work full time and need a taxi to get there and back each day?

Here is the real clincher - the payment is not to pay for fares but the getting passengers in and out of the taxi. What? In NSW there is a subsidy where the government pays half your taxi fare up to the amount of $30 each way and there is no limit to the number of times you travel in a year.

I can't believe the Northern Territory Government are so behind the times in taxi transport for people with disabilities.