Jo Lind says she was "pretty peeved" after she and her wheelchair-bound husband were left stranded outside a Greater Victoria restaurant by a cab company that cancelled their ride with a wheelchair accessible van hours after they were supposed to be picked up.
Lind's husband had been staying at Victoria General hospital due to a leg injury that left him temporarily in a wheelchair, and on his birthday, she wanted to take him out to a restaurant, the first time he left the hospital in 12 weeks.
Texts she shared with the Victoria News show she made a reservation for a wheelchair accessible vehicle with Bluebird Cabs almost a week ahead of the outing on Sept. 5. The texts show the taxi was to pick the couple up from the hospital at 2:30 p.m., and they would be picked from the restaurant at 6:30 p.m.
The couple was picked up 45 minutes late, according to Lind, which she says "wasn't terrible", as they were notified ahead of time that the driver would be late.
When they were finished dinner, they went outside to wait for the cab at the 6:30 pick-up time, but after about half-an-hour of waiting, no one showed up. She called Bluebird, who assured her a driver is on the way.
At 8 p.m., one-and-a-half hours after their reserved pick-up time, Lind received a text from the company saying the ride had been cancelled, but to "please call us if you still need transportation".
"We felt abandoned. We felt totally let down," she said.
When she called again, the dispatcher told Lind all the accessible vans had been signed out for the night, and after calling other local taxi companies, none had an accessible vehicle.
Eventually, a family friend with a truck picked up the couple and the wheelchair, and they returned to the hospital at almost 9 p.m.
"What if we didn't know someone with a truck, would we have to call an ambulance?" she said. "Is this what people in wheelchairs deal with on a regular basis? What if you need to get to an appointment?"
She spoke with a supervisor at Bluebird the next day, who offered to suspend the driver, but she didn't want to "complicate the problem for other people needing handicap vans".
Lind made a complaint to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure regarding the incident, which was confirmed by Bluebird. In an emailed statement on Oct. 3, Michael Westeroth, Bluebird general manager, said the company is implementing new and improved policies as a result of the incident, which he said was the result of driver availability.
Westeroth said more than half of their accessible vehicle owners are unable to find drivers to cover the night shift, and they've been having difficulties finding drivers for conventional vehicles as well.
He did say however, more than 95 per cent of handicap customers do get their accessible vehicles in a timely manner.
"I feel terrible that we couldn't find any accessible vans to take them that night and I hope they are okay. We will do better in the future," he said.
Since the incident, Westeroth says the company is providing accessible training for all drivers with government approved trainers, informing and reminding accessible van drivers as to their responsibilities when wheelchair jobs are upcoming, ensuring all drivers are signed into the system when they are operating, creating a duty schedule to ensure proper coverage at all times, creating and implementing more incentives for drivers, instructing dispatch personnel to properly inform accessible vans about upcoming and "due now" wheelchair jobs, and recruiting more accessible van drivers.
"I hope that this addresses this important issue for our handicapped customers. We do understand that many of these customers are in a vulnerable situation and need to get efficient transportation services," noted Westoroth.
