Social entrepreneur, Stephen Cluskey shares this post about his website Wheelchairtaxi.ie and is looking for feedback on his idea to create a complimentary app for his taxi-site.
Have you ever tried to get wheelchair accessible transport? Well, it is far from easy and for a wheelchair user it can mean the difference between getting out or not. A wheelchair user struggles no matter where they are to source suitable transport and have to worry about other issues on top of this like the type of ramp used, head height inside the vehicle and tiedown systems as well as driver experience.
Wheelchairtaxi.ie was launched in April 2012 to solve these problems. The site is a ‘one-stop shop’ for all forms of wheelchair accessible transport including taxis, car hire, minibus/coach hire, community transport and even wheelchair accessible fishing boats. Our mission is ‘to provide a web and mobile-based search facility to quickly and easily source all forms of wheelchair accessible transport throughout Ireland, raising standards, promoting independence and driving social change.’
We make it compulsory when drivers sign up that they provide certain information like a photograph of the vehicle, working times and direct contact details so users know exactly what to expect before the transport arrives. There is also a feedback section on each driver which aims to raise standards in a country that provides no mandatory training on how to use the tiedown systems etc when the vehicle is purchased.
To date, Wheelchairtaxi.ie has been a great success providing suitable transport for hundreds of wheelchair users throughout Ireland. We are the number one used resource in Ireland for wheelchair accessible transport and appear first in Google’s rankings for ‘wheelchair taxi’and ‘wheelchair transport’. In both 2012 and 2013 the site was nominated for an Eircom Spider Award in Ireland’s best listings category and we are associated with some fantastic organisations like the Irish Wheelchair Association, Spinal Injuries Ireland and the Disabled Drivers Association of Ireland to name but a few.
The future is bright and we are constantly looking to improve our services so if you have any feedback or ideas we would be delighted to hear from you. Is this something that is needed in the UK? You can contact us directly using info@wheelchairtaxi.ie. Plans for a new site and complimentary app are currently in development so keep an eye out for some big things very soon…
By Stephen Cluskey
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