The characteristics of subsidised mobility services for disabled people

Document Type

Report

Publication Date

2024

Subject Area

economics - subsidy, literature review - literature review, mode - paratransit, place - australasia, place - europe, policy - disability

Keywords

Accessibility, disability, paratransit, public transport

Abstract

This research investigates subsidised mobility in countries other than Aotearoa New Zealand. The research is intended to inform the Ministry of Transport's review of Total Mobility, which is a government-funded scheme that provides subsidised taxis for disabled people who cannot easily use public transport. The research comprises a literature review and case studies to explore how other countries subsidise transport for disabled people. We researched academic and industry (grey) literature. Results show that transport subsidies for disabled people are not widely researched. Most literature comes from Australia, Europe, the UK and the USA. While there are differences in how countries provide subsidies, these differences have not been analysed in sufficient depth to know what combination of approaches works best in terms of meeting the needs of disabled people, and the investment objectives of governments. The two main approaches to subsidised mobility are bottom-up support for transport run by community groups, and top-down government-run models that use for-profit taxi providers. These approaches have different advantages and disadvantages, and both meet some people's needs for transport. We recommend that Aotearoa New Zealand researches both the impacts and return on investment in subsidised mobility, so that any changes in investment can be appropriately targeted.

Rights

Permission to publish the abstract has been given by NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA), copyright remains with them.

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