Not many may be aware of the service, but an NGO in Chennai offers two vans that are modified to carry wheelchair-bound passengers anywhere in the city for social or other engagements. Vidya Sagar runs it more as a model service than a commercial one. A similar service is operated by Swarga Foundation in Coimbatore, and more recently in Vellore.
These low-profile services point to a major shortfall in accessible taxicab transport, which govts and local bodies could address by inviting new players in the door-to-door transport services for vulnerable groups. These operators could quickly start services using new regulations, while govts work at a much slower pace on the wider goal — to make cities and public transport accessible to people with disabilities.
The law is clear that it expects govts to create enabling frameworks. There are access-related provisions in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 that address mobility rights. Section 41 deals with ‘access to transport’ and requires the appropriate govt to offer incentives and concessions for schemes that promote personal mobility of the disabled. Corporates help NGOs through social responsibility funds to operate modified vehicles for door-to-door mobility of people who use wheelchairs. Not much of that is happening, though.
A niche clearly exists for a service catering to the vulnerable group of travellers that would immensely raise their quality of life and open a fresh avenue for new participants in a greenfield sector. Training and employment for jobless youth and a leading edge for Tamil Nadu in welfare innovation are assured. Such new mobility will also seamlessly plug into the metro rail system, and if the state govt shows enough political will, into the urban bus system. What the disability sector needs is an active political champion.
Just as senior living communities are a growing vertical for the real estate sector, Mobility as a Service (MaaS) for older adults and people with disabilities represents a whole new field. Going by the example of the developed world, special residential enclaves for seniors are a potential user base for MaaS.
Uber, among the more high-profile mobility companies, offers Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles (WAV) in many cities globally, but not in Chennai. It does offer them in Bengaluru. Many cities have pilot-scale services run by small organisations, while the demand from a large middle class waits to be met.
Chennai’s autorickshaws are also used by several disabled people, including some who are wheelchair-bound, but only with great difficulty. They must get help to fold their wheelchairs away and unfold them each time. Moreover, autorickshaws are not designed for people with limited mobility. In the few instances where NGOs offer wheelchair-accessible rides, the vehicles are retrofitted vans with a detachable ramp for the user to board. Political parties largely pay lip service to the cause of accessibility and universal design in urban planning, roads and pavements, public buildings, and public transport. Even under the DMK govt, which swears by a welfarist model, the MTC strongly resisted the demand to make all its buses wheelchair accessible. The newly introduced low-floor MTC buses are so crowded during many hours of the day that there is no scope for wheelchair users to travel in them. Street and bus stop design make it impossible to use wheelchairs even along arterial roads, let alone on those in the interior.
Against this dismal reality, newer models of door-to-door mobility for the disabled could open a new chapter, particularly for people with severe disabilities. Globally, the growing section of senior citizens with geriatric disabilities are included in the vulnerable group of passengers, and the UN Sustainable Development Goal 11 also envisages facilities for these users in order to make cities inclusive. SDGs have steadily declined in importance due to nationalist and populist govts ignoring international commitments.
One service that has emerged in western cities is a paid membership to a platform tailored to the needs of people with disabilities and senior citizens: the facilities range from accessible vehicle booking to meal delivery, assisted visits to medical appointments, and grocery shopping. Such examples are found in the United States and have provided financial help under tax-funded programmes like Medicaid and local govt schemes. Interestingly, some of these services do not require the use of a smartphone and rely only on plain old call-centre style bookings.
These services are in addition to the public transport modes that are mandated to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and are valuable because of their on-demand flexibility.
A similar arrangement is feasible in the Indian context. One of the benefits of the Aadhaar programme for citizens with disabilities or those of specified age could be access to services. Those with a certified disability should be able to avail travel services without difficulty — such as visits to educational institutions, medical appointments, and even a limited number of social engagements every month. This would be an extension of the bus travel coupons that Tamil Nadu already provides to pensioners.
The Union and state govts have failed so far to come up with new schemes and incentives for transport services for the disabled, in spite of having powers under the Motor Vehicles Act, 2019 and the mandate set by the PWD act. This abject failure was highlighted during the recent Supreme Court hearings in the landmark Rajiv Raturi v Union of India litigation. Tamil Nadu’s low compliance with the PWD act on low-floor buses was highlighted to the SC by the Centre for Disability Studies, NALSAR University of Law, in its special report.
Just how significant India’s disability burden is remains poorly assessed. The 2011 Census mentions 2.21% of the population having a certifiable disability. This data is outdated, since no new Census has been carried out, but the National Family Health Survey for 2019-21 lowered the prevalence to about 1%. This is seen as inaccurate and implausible. This data also does not consider millions of older adults with age-onset disability who would benefit from the same interventions — universally-designed urban infrastructure and mobility reforms such as an accessible taxi service — that apply to people who have physical and visible disabilities.
(The writer is a Chennai-based journalist)
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