"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
In message , at 10:36:06 on Sun, 4 Oct 2015,
tim..... remarked:

And one issue here is the problem of disability access. If all "ply for
hire" cabs have to conform with the disability act and provide equal
access, then all "contract hire" cabs should as well. This is one area
where Uber is deficient that he should be MADE to comply with.

It's not necessarily important for every private hire vehicle to offer
disability access, because the are pre-booked. As long as each firm has
some minimum number of such vehicles available if requested, that should
be sufficient.

That I understand

but unless that "minimum number" is somewhat larger than you might first
calculate, you either end up with the accessible cabs waiting around all day
for the one disabled passenger, or no accessible cabs free at the time that
passenger turns up.

And of course, it leaves the possibility of (illegal) increase in price for
the disabled cab. If all cabs are accessible them the disabled pax doesn't
need to announce their requirement, but if they are required to announce it
how do you ensue that the request hasn't magically entered the "surge
pricing" zone?

tim