I am proud to announce that on Monday, April 11th I begin 2-½ days work experience at the Muscular Dystrophy UK headquarters in London. I am honoured to join the wonderful Trailblazers team and learn the huge amount of effort that goes on behind the scenes of all they’re amazing reports.
I thought it would be a great idea to share my recent experiences using Leicester‘s public transport with you.
Initially I will only review the quality of the taxi service in Leicester; this information will benefit Trailblazers’ new public transport report as previously they only focused on reviewing and improving public transport methods in London.
In the past, I only used taxis when going to school after spinal surgery and had a pleasant experience. However, after I had a new wheelchair that had a taller backrest I could not fit into a regular black cab so I required a larger wheelchair adapted taxi with a tail-lift. I did feel safer in a wheelchair-adapted taxi due to the ability of being securely strapped in.
Previously I used the company Swift taxis but I have had problems with the attitudes of their taxi drivers to my disabled friend, the driver was annoyed at having to get out of the cab to operate the taxi ramps. It was quite a stressful situation and very unnecessary.
This time I used the company ABC Taxis to take a short 5-mile journey from my house in Oadby to the Highcross shopping centre in Leicester being dropped off at Charles Street. The receptionist was friendly when pre-booking the taxi; a standard black cab arrived at my door with a built in ramp that opened out and a friendly driver that treated me with respect. The only issue I found with the actual cab was not being strapped in securely however due to the limited space inside I did not move about as much. The ramp was adequate but the ramp surface was quite smooth and with wet tyres, there were some grip and traction issues.
The taxi journey took 19 minutes both ways and cost £13.50, I am told that compared to prices in London (via Uber) this taxi journey was expensive.
Next stop: Buses!
Uncanny Vivek 