Minna Blaney is desperate for a life full of good friends and good health, but at present, it is a struggle just to leave the house.
The 35-year-old Launceston woman uses a wheelchair but getting around town can be a battle due to a shortage of accessible taxis.
It does not matter if she books a month in advance. Sometimes taxis simply do not show up.
"I want to be able to go out and be with my friends and not be depressed anymore," Ms Blaney said.
"But at the moment, I don't trust it. So I'm really not wanting to do much at all."
The taxi shortage in northern Tasmania is a logistical and mental nightmare for those living with a disability.
Some wait for hours, while others are stranded at events after the taxi they booked is cancelled at the last minute.
"We're out in the wet. We get colds. We get sick," Ms Blaney said.
"You can forget about COVID. We will get sick because we're out in the cold."
Highs and lows of new transport standards
Accessible transportation has long been a concern across the country. However, Disability Voices Tasmania chair Michael Small said his state had particular challenges — a low, dispersed population and a de-centralised taxi network filled with individual operators.
"And the taxi industry says we've got a financial credibility problem in that wheelchair-accessible taxis are quite expensive," he said.
"People with significant mobility disability have to plan days ahead for medical appointments, appointments with lawyers, social events and all those life experiences we take for granted."
Mr Small said new national accessible transport standards had ushered in some positive changes, including that all Tasmanian buses were now wheelchair accessible.
But he said there was anecdotal evidence the transportation sector was failing to meet other standards, such as the requirement that ordering an accessible taxi should not take any longer than any other taxi.
"It might have been useful and valuable if the national transport standards built into it a compliance and monitoring mechanism, but it didn't," Mr Small said.
Accessible taxis 'don't have drivers'
Jamil Rayhan coordinates a dispatch network of 110 taxis and said the shortage was not due to a lack of accessible vehicles but drivers.
"We have been suffering significant drivers shortage since the beginning of the pandemic, and we haven't recovered yet," he said.
"At the moment, we're running seven taxis, but some cars don't have drivers.
"We're trying our best to get drivers. Every month we run taxi training courses."
Tasmania Labor MP Janie Finlay said the lack of accessible taxis had been exacerbated after one provider left the market.
She said the state government had let down the disability community, and they needed to "step up and resolve the issue".
"A focus on all sorts of other projects is distracting this government from the fundamentals that are required in our community," Ms Finlay said.
Government prepared to 'take further action'
Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Michael Ferguson said the government had dropped the licence fee for wheelchair-accessible taxis and reduced the cost of a general taxi licence to recruit more drivers.
He said four new wheelchair-accessible taxi drivers had been recruited in Launceston as part of an incentive program that provided up to $600 towards the cost of training and authorisation.
"The taxi training course is also being updated to make it cheaper and quicker to become a taxi driver, while maintaining safety and competency requirements," Mr Ferguson said.
"Beyond this, under national reforms, authorised drivers from other states and territories will no longer need a Tasmanian ancillary certificate to drive in Tasmania, making it easier for operators to recruit interstate taxi drivers."
Mr Ferguson says he has discussed the matter with industry representatives and will "take further action if the current unsatisfactory situation for people with disability does not improve".
