Harrogate Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle Study Final Report January 2020 Executive Summary In Harrogate, wheelchair users have been facing increasing difficulty obtaining the services of wheelchair accessible licensed vehicles. The difficulties have reportedly increased in recent years. The perceived reduced availability has coincided with reduced levels of provision of wheelchair accessible private hire vehicles in Harrogate. Licensed vehicle operators have reported difficulties in recruiting drivers for wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAV). The perception amongst many of the drivers is that additional dead mileage and additional time taken to board, secure and alight a wheelchair bound passengers reduces the earning potential for drivers undertaking wheelchair hires, compared with hires using a non-wheelchair accessible vehicle. Harrogate Borough incorporates the town of Harrogate and several other settlements, including Ripon and Knaresborough, along with areas which are largely rural in character. Wheelchair users face limitations in availability of wheelchair accessible licensed vehicles throughout the Borough. It is generally felt, however, that the level of provision is lowest (relative to demand) in Harrogate town. The majority of wheelchair accessible vehicle trips are undertaken by larger private hire operators, who run multiple wheelchair accessible vehicles. Practices vary, with some wheelchair accessible vehicles highly utilised on wheelchair user hires, each day. Other operators have wheelchair accessible vehicles which are not always in operation and are less heavily utilised. Some operators receive a large surplus of enquiries for wheelchair accessible vehicles, which they cannot fulfil. Others receive few booking enquiries and have significant capacity available to carry wheelchair passengers. Much of the capacity to carry wheelchair bound passengers is unused for most of the time. The mismatch of demand to capacity is largely attributed to constraints in communication between users and providers and current practices amongst wheelchair users. Whilst the Council publishes a list of contact details for providers of wheelchair accessible licensed vehicles, many users do not commonly try all of the operators in their area. Wheelchair users habitually have favoured suppliers who they will contact to book a wheelchair accessible vehicle for travel. Many of the wheelchair users who book wheelchair accessible vehicles have fallen into a habit of only trying to contact a regular supplier and perhaps one other supplier, if the preferred supplier is unable to provide a vehicle. Whilst there are several other suppliers listed on the Council’s list of wheelchair accessible licensed vehicle operators, it appears that other suppliers are rarely contacted to enquire about availability. Communication and information flow between those who need wheelchair accessible vehicles and those who provide wheelchair accessible vehicles is a key issue. During the study, it was found that one operator on the list of wheelchair accessible vehicle providers, whilst having a wheelchair accessible vehicle available, was generally unwilling to undertake wheelchair hires. A representative of the operator reasoned that they were unwilling, owning to the additional dead mileage cost and additional time associated with such bookings. This reflects the sentiments of many drivers. People with mobility impairment tend to be more heavily reliant on the services of licensed vehicles, than the general population. Adults with mobility impairments tend to use licensed vehicles around twice as frequently as the general population. We estimate that demand for wheelchair accessible licensed vehicles to be around 3% of all travel Harrogate Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle Study i demand. However, it is estimated that only around 1% of hires are fulfilled by wheelchair accessible vehicles. This implies that only a third of the demand for wheelchair accessible vehicles is fulfilled by the existing fleet. From time to time, wheelchair users need to use wheelchair accessible licensed vehicles, in order to travel to an appointment, for medical or other personal business reasons. For such appointments, the availability of a wheelchair accessible vehicle can determine when an appointment can be made. If a vehicle is not available, then appointments are often cancelled or re-timed to a time when a wheelchair accessible vehicle is available. Consequently, lack of availability affects third parties and not only wheelchair users. Availability of a wheelchair accessible vehicle at short notice is generally low and availability at night is very low, with few wheelchair accessible vehicles operating at night. The limited availability and uncertainty about travel arrangements can lead to a great deal of anxiety for some wheelchair users. Many perceive a significant risk of being trapped when attempting to travel. In order to develop a better connection between demand from users and provision of services by willing drivers, a package of measures is required which will improve communication between users and providers and provide a wider choice of providers to users. Measures are required to encourage changes in the way in which users obtain the services of wheelchair accessible vehicles and the way in which these services are provided. The majority of wheelchair accessible vehicle hires are made through private hire operators. The level of influence and potential incentives that can be offered to private hire vehicles is limited. Private hire vehicles are relatively free to engage in any type of private hire work which is commercially advantageous to the operator. Typically, private hire drivers are relatively highly utilised on hires, with little dwell time between consecutive hires. As such, any additional time associated with wheelchair hires can be acutely perceived by drivers. By comparison, Hackney carriages operating predominantly from the ranks in Harrogate enjoy significantly lower levels of utilisation with longer wait times between hires. It is anticipated that there is more scope to encourage drivers within the Hackney Carriage fleet to service more of the demand for wheelchair accessible vehicle hire, than there is for the private hire fleet. This is an under fulfilled market sector which could boost the number of hires undertaken by Hackney Carriages and reduce time between hires. However, in order for Hackney Carriage vehicles to access the existing unmet demand for wheelchair accessible vehicles, communication channels would need to be improved. Many Hackney Carriages undertake pre-booked hires as well as serving rank based hires. therefore, increased availability of WAV Hackney Carriages is likely to increase the number of vehicles which can undertake pre-booked hires made through private hire booking circuits or made directly with the vehicle owner or driver. A range of potential measures were considered to encourage members of the trade to offer increased levels of service to wheelchair users. These potential measures included (amongst others) provision of preferential rank space, for qualifying Hackney Carriages. Qualifying Hackney Carriages would provide enhanced availability of service to wheelchair users. Along with identifying a range of potential measures and incentives, Harrogate Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle Study ii the practical implementation of such measures and any constraints with respect to implementation were also taken into consideration. Development and maintenance of an approved list of wheelchair accessible vehicles faces challenging requirements. Policing of the list would be a significant undertaking. Development and maintenance of a list of qualifying Hackney Carriages and other operators of WAVs, would be an ongoing task which would require staff resources from within the Council staff. Potentially the maintenance of the list could require significant staff resource to implement and to maintain. An amendment to the existing taxi rank on Station Parade, to provide a rank which may only be used by approved wheelchair accessible Hackney Carriages, was considered. The existing rank on Station Parade would be split into two separate ranks of approximately equal size. The front part of the rank, closest to the Railway Station entrance, would be for the exclusive use of approved wheelchair accessible Hackney Carriages. Only those Hackney Carriages which are on the register of approved wheelchair accessible Hackney Carriages would be allowed to use this new rank. Other Hackney Carriages, which are equipped to carry wheelchairs, but are not on the register, would not be approved to use this rank. The potential rank, for approved wheelchair accessible Hackney Carriages only, is a premium position within the Harrogate ranks and would present an incentive to take steps to join the approved list of Hackney Carriages and service demand from wheelchair users, in order to qualify for use of the rank. Provision of a rank for exclusive use of approved wheelchair accessible vehicles faces several obstacles. The splitting of the existing rank space into two ranks would result in an overall reduction in the number of vehicles which could wait on the two ranks. Policing of the ranks may require additional enforcement resource and associated expense. This measure would also be likely to be highly unpopular amongst the trade. The length of Hackney Carriage vehicles in Harrogate is currently limited by the conditions set by the Council, to 4.9 metres.