A disabled Dumfries woman has hit out at the lack of accessible taxis in the town.
Mary Bell has tried several companies but found only one wheelchair-friendly private hire.
And she believes the lack of transport is limiting activities and social interaction for people with disabilities.
Mary, a peer support advisor for Spinal Injuries Scotland, said: “Surely there’s more than one accessible taxi in Dumfries? I’ve tried phoning a few companies but had no success.
“It’s a big issue and it’s not given enough attention.”
The 57-year-old said more needs to be done at local and government levels to provide better public transport for disabled people.
She added: “Depending on your level of disability, you’re not confident enough to go out on your own.
“The root of the problem is that there isn’t good public transport provision rather than a lack of accessible taxis.
“The availability of regular, reliable and accessible public transport would make travel more affordable and actually better support the need to reduce car and single occupancy journeys, which I believe is a Scottish Government aim.
“There isn’t enough support at Scottish or UK Government level. More needs to be done without delay.
“It’s not good enough and the changes to improve public transport need to happen quicker, happen now.”
The former art and music teacher described pavements as “minefields” for disabled people and insisted that private hire cars are “out of reach” for many.
Mary said: “Private hire can be really expensive. One of the biggest problems for disabled people is leaving the house and this leads to social isolation and loneliness.
“Normally private hire taxis are people that have bought their cars out of their own pocket. There’s nothing to support them to support us.”
MSP Emma Harper said: “As taxis are operated by private businesses, they are generally not subject to the same accessibility legislation and I would therefore support engagement from Dumfries and Galloway Council as the licencing authority, with our region’s taxi firms, to look at how we can increase the number of accessible taxis within their respective fleets. I will write to the council asking this very question.
“I support all efforts to see the provision of accessible transport options increased across our region.”
A council spokesperson said: “We currently have four wheelchair accessible vehicles licensed in Dumfries and Galloway.
“We’re fully aware this is an area that requires improvement and, as a starting point, we aim to commission a taxi/private hire car demand survey which will include what the demand is for wheelchair accessible vehicles throughout the region and whether we, as a licensing authority, are meeting that demand.
