Living in regional Queensland, David Conway sometimes waits up to three hours for a taxi to arrive.
He says there are so few wheelchair-accessible taxis in Mackay that no matter how far he plans ahead, he can never rely on them to arrive on time – or at all.
This week, Conway missed an urgent medical appointment after waiting almost an hour for a taxi to arrive, before finally cancelling the trip.
“I have endocrine issues and I need to do a blood test within the next two weeks so my specialist can make sure my medication is right,” Conway says.
“But it feels like people in wheelchairs are an afterthought. We’re not a priority.”
Conway is vision impaired and paraplegic. He says drivers operating taxis don’t always have the appropriate training, putting passengers with disabilities at risk.
“I’ve had one driver not strap me in properly … and slam on the brakes to avoid collision,” he says.
“I fell out of my chair, smashed my head and was bleeding through my nose and face. My GP said it was a miracle that … I didn’t break my jaw, nose or cheekbones, with the extreme bruising that I had.”
But Conway says catching public transport can also be a gruelling experience.
Not only are buses infrequent in his area but – unlike wheelchair-accessible taxis – they have no safety straps to keep passengers secure.
This means passengers rely solely on the brakes of their wheelchair and upper body strength to stay still.
“You want to hope the driver takes it easy on corners but that doesn’t always happen. If they go around like Fast and Furious, I might slide forward as well,” he says.
Chair of the Queenslanders with Disability Network (QDN), Des Ryan, says it’s common for people with disabilities to wait one to three hours for an accessible taxi to show up – particularly in regional areas.
“Sometimes there are just no accessible taxis working or available due to low numbers,” Ryan tells Guardian Australia.
“QDN members have reported that in regional areas the situation is worse, with not enough accessible taxis to service the needs of the local population with disability – especially in growth areas like Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton and Mackay.”
Ryan says many people with disabilities don’t live close to public transport, meaning getting to the station or bus can be an extra challenge.
“I don’t think people could imagine the amount of planning that people with disability have to do to get to doctor’s appointments, get our groceries, or get to work,” he says.
“It’s difficult when you have to depend on others when striving for independence.”
While the situation might be tougher for people with disabilities in regional areas, citysiders aren’t immune to these issues.
Elisha Matthews lives in Hamilton, in north-east Brisbane, and says it’s nearly impossible to book an accessible taxi between 3pm and 5pm.
She says this is because most wheelchair-accessible taxis are contracted to do school runs for children with disabilities.
“I have full-time care of my seven-year-old granddaughter, and TransLink recently removed the bus route that went from my home to her school,” Matthews says.
“Because [most taxis] are not available at 3pm, it’s a very difficult task.
“I’ve had to make a permanent booking with the after-school care service, just in case I cannot pick her up on time.”
Matthews lives with a neurological condition and autoimmune disease, which affects her mobility and causes her pain and fatigue.
She says she waits an average of 30 minutes for taxis to accept her booking, and they often take another half an hour to arrive. The longest she’s waited for a taxi to arrive has been two and a half hours.
“I really feel like I’m a burden to not only the taxi service, but the community,” Matthews says.
“They seem to think we can just wait. But I’ve still got children to pick up from school and feed – I’ve still got a job to go to.”
Matthews says she’s also experienced inappropriate behaviour from taxi drivers, including ableist comments and drivers turning on the meter before she gets inside the vehicle.
She says this is despite her having a taxi subsidy where the Queensland government pays drivers a $20 “lift payment” to load and unload eligible passengers into vehicles.
“I argued once and the driver got very aggressive, and I did fear for my safety. I decided after that it was safer for me to not argue,” Matthews says.
“We’re very vulnerable, and drivers identify that and think they can get away with it.”
The state’s Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) said the government launched a wheelchair-accessible taxi scheme in 2019 by funding half the cost of a vehicle.
“TMR does not regulate wait times for taxis in Queensland, which are a commercial responsibility for taxi operators to manage in meeting their customers’ needs,” a spokesperson for the department said.
“The driver of a taxi available for hire must not refuse to provide a taxi service to any person, or a booked hire service to a person in a wheelchair or to a member of the taxi subsidy scheme, unless they have a reasonable excuse.”
Ryan says while the Queensland government has “done a lot to rectify the situation”, there’s still progress to be made. He says this includes working with the taxi industry to review accessibility against demand.
“Being able to travel freely and grab a taxi is something that most Australians take for granted but that is not the experience for many people with disability,” Ryan says.
“We need to continue to work on this and improve access for all.”
