THE CHANCE OF A LIFETIME


passengers rely on, particularly where alternatives are already limited. Nowhere is this lack of alternatives more keenly felt than in the availability of accessible vehicles.


Safe transport is only meaningful if people can access it, including older passengers, disabled passengers, wheelchair users, assistance dog users and those who rely on PHVs because other options do not meet their needs or are not available. The draft Bill’s commitment to removing barriers for disabled passengers and introducing a unified national framework is a direct response to what operators and passengers have been raising for years.


operators and licensed driver-partners to provide services, it risks creating new safety gaps rather than closing existing ones. Safeguarding is not served by measures that reduce supply.


The risk is not a licensed driver taking a booking in a neighbouring area. It is a passenger with no ride home at midnight because the rules made it harder to provide one. Ideas for restricting journeys across borders include only allowing licensed driver-partners to pick up and/or drop off in the areas where they are licensed or implementing a monthly quota on the number of bookings a licensed driver-partner can complete in another area.


We should rightly discuss these ideas, but if the aim is to improve and simplify regulation, then these are not the answers. They will create unnecessary complexity within the sector and place an additional burden on licensing authorities.


National standards, consistently applied and properly enforced, will do more for safeguarding than blunt restrictions on where a licensed driver can undertake bookings. Such restrictions have the potential to leave passengers waiting longer, or with no service at all, at exactly the moments when reliable transport matters most.


Improving accessibility is a given


People do not plan their lives around council boundaries, and regulation should not pretend that they do. The framework must therefore be robust enough to strengthen safety, but practical enough to preserve the availability,


flexibility and coverage PHTM SEPTEMBER 2026


People with mobility difficulties already make almost 70 per cent more PHV trips than people without mobility difficulties, so this is an area where the Bill can make a real difference. Disability awareness training should be mandated and standardised, accessible provision should be expanded, and the sector should be supported to meet passenger needs.


Wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAVs) are more expensive, there are fewer suitable models available and not every vehicle can meet every passenger’s needs. The approach should therefore include appropriate incentives to increase the availability and reliability of accessible services.


Stronger incentives for drivers to accept WAV bookings are paramount. The Government should explore reductions in licensing fees for WAVs, based on the number of WAV bookings a driver completes each month. The direction of travel in the Bill is right. The proof will lie in its implementation.


Conclusion


For too long, grey areas, delayed responses and gaps in information-sharing have left passengers, driver- partners and operators navigating a system that is more complex than it needs to be. This is the Government’s opportunity to do more


than


modernise taxi and PHV regulation. It can create a framework that is safer, fairer, future ready and more workable for every community, from rural villages and regional towns to major cities.


The sector has been calling for change for years, and now is the time to turn patchwork rules into practical reform.


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