The plenary session of the Arrecife City Council held on the morning of this Friday, June 3, unanimously approved the specific regulatory bases for the granting of subsidies to cover the payment of expenses for adapting vehicles with an ordinary taxi license to vehicles with an adapted license.
The proposal, as indicated by the mayor of Arrecife, Astrid Pérez, "is based on the need to increase the provision of taxi service with adapted vehicles in Arrecife, and thus comply with the basic conditions of accessibility and non-discrimination for access and use of transport modes for people with disabilities."
The law establishes that municipalities will promote that at least 5% of taxi licenses correspond to adapted vehicles, so license holders must voluntarily request that their vehicles be adapted for this purpose and, only if the aforementioned percentage is not covered, the Arrecife City Council will require the owners of the last municipal licenses granted to make their taxis accessible.
These taxis will provide services primarily to people with disabilities, but if they are free from these services, they will be on equal terms with other non-adapted taxis to work with any citizen.
Therefore, and taking into account the necessary economic investment to proceed with the adaptation of the aforementioned vehicles, the municipal council will incentivize the holders of ordinary licenses through the granting of subsidies to cover the expenses of adapting the vehicles with the aim of reaching the percentage of adapted licenses necessary to serve people with reduced mobility, in order to guarantee universal accessibility to users.
Specifically, as explained by the councilor of the area, Ángela Hernández, the amount that will be allocated for this purpose amounts to fifty thousand euros "which will allow the adaptation of five vehicles that, together with the four already existing, will allow compliance with the quota established by law." Despite this, Hernández explained, "we do not rule out increasing the number of places in the future, if necessary."
The councilor also highlighted that the Arrecife City Council will also enable other aid aimed at the taxi sector, specifically for the modernization of the fleet, for an amount of thirty thousand euros, and another for the management of the service with an amount of twenty-five thousand euros.