On Monday 10th December, 2012, Canberra wheelchair users started using a new system for ordering a wheelchair accessible taxi (WAT). The announcement by the Attorney General is given here.
The local taxi companies are no longer taking wheelchair bookings, and all bookings for WAT vehicles are to be made using a new booking number. The calls will be handled by dedicated operators working in a call centre in Orange, NSW. The call centre handles bookings for over twenty taxi fleets and the staff are very familiar with handling customers with special needs.
All the wheelchair taxis operating on a restricted wheelchair licence have been fitted with the SmartMove terminals. The SmartMove taxi dispatching system is Australia's most advanced dispatching system. It enables vehicles to be tracked in real-time and it provides a very high level of traceability for investigating complaints and other issues. More information on SmartMove is available here.
The administration of the service is being handled by EBA Solutions. They are based in Canberra and are responsible for handling issues not directly related to bookings.