Etude conjointe CEMT-IRU « Amélioration de l’accessibilité des taxis » - Paul Laeremans

Paul Laeremans, Président, IRU

Séance d’ouverture

Distinguished government representatives, dear guests, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

Allow me, on behalf of the International Road Transport Union, to welcome all of you to this presentation of the results of the study on “Improving access to taxis”, which is yet another concrete result of the exemplary IRU-ECMT partnership.

It is not the first time the IRU works in partnership with ECMT on the subject of taxi accessibility. Most of you will be familiar with the study on the “Economic aspects of taxi accessibility”, which we jointly undertook in 2001.

I would like to sincerely thank the ECMT, and especially its Secretary General, Mr. Jack Short, for appreciating fully what we can achieve by working together not only in regarding taxis, but also in several other areas concerning both passenger and goods transport by road since many years. The IRU hopes our partnership will be further enhanced with the current ECMT reform and the creation of the global International Transport Forum (ITF).

Today, we are here to present the key results of our joint study and exchange views on how the access to taxis can be improved.

Taxis today are a readily available, reliable and flexible means of transport which can function independently or as a complement to other modes. Taxis provide door-to-door services to individuals or small groups of passengers and drivers are generally available to assist customers. These are important aspects for mobility impaired people.

Taxis have become an essential player in the mobility chain with many people relying on their services for their mobility needs. The taxi is an integral part of the public transport network in many cities and regions. Despite the lack of official recognition of this role, we can see an increasing cooperation between the providers of public transport and the taxi business.

We should note that mobility impaired people often rely on taxis for their local travel because of the personalised service they receive. But, they sometimes encounter difficulties because of a lack of accessibility of the vehicle. More than 45 million mobility impaired people live and work in the European Union alone. The demographic evolution shows that this figure will increase. So, the need for accessible transport solutions will also increase. There is a general evolution towards making public transport more accessible.

The key challenge is to find solutions which make it easier for passengers to use taxis without causing penalties to taxi operations. No solution is possible without better accessible vehicles at an affordable price.

During the preparation of the study, authorities, users, manufacturers and operators sat together in a unique public-private partnership, to evaluate where we stand today and to identify where additional efforts are needed to facilitate accessibility. It was in fact the first time that these stakeholders cooperated so closely on the issue, and this in itself is already a fantastic result. It also demonstrated a strong commitment to the need to improve access to taxis.

It will become clear during this morning’s exchange that the conclusions and recommendations of the study aim high, because we want to look to the future.

It will only be through the active commitment of several stakeholders who are here today: authorities, users, manufacturers and operators that these conclusions and recommendations can be successfully implemented.

But, a word of advice is needed. We have aimed high, but we have also recognised the challenges in doing so. Therefore, we have looked at the medium and long term for the step-by-step implementation of the conclusions and recommendations, especially as far as the building and purchasing of vehicles is concerned.

As President of the IRU, I would like to advise authorities to avoid a hasty implementation which would not be feasible and therefore jeopardise the initial aims of the study.

Today’s event is not only a presentation of the results of our joint study. It will also allow us to explore what can be achieved by working together for a better future not only for our industry, but especially for the users of taxi services and for society as a whole. The IRU will continue its efforts to propose innovative solutions as well as fostering the partnership between industry, authorities and users.

Allow me to thank all participants for being here today, because I do hope that our discussion will bring a positive contribution to improving the access to taxis in the medium and long term.

I thus encourage you all to participate actively.

[ top ]