Changes to taxi changes in Shropshire
All taxis across Shropshire will have to be wheelchair accessible by 2021.
The taxis - hackney carriages - have to conform with the access or the owners re-licence their vehicles as private hire vehicles.
Councillors voted through the changes at a meeting of Shropshire Council on Thursday.
Councillor Robert Macey said that if existing taxi proprietors upgrade their vehicles, the number of wheelchair accessible vehicle would increase. The owners now had two years to make the transition, he said.
Customers will also be able to hail taxis to take them across the whole of Shropshire from 2021 after councillors voted to remove the five existing hackney carriage zones.
Councillor Macey said the zones were an almost 10-year old legacy from pre-unitary days and said there should be a single taxi regime across the whole of Shropshire.
"The increase in ‘cross-border hiring’ ,brought about by the Deregulation Act 2015, has increased the risk to public safety and adversely impacted on the available business for taxi proprietors.
"Removal of the zones will put taxi proprietors in a better position to retain business as they will be able to pick up passengers throughout Shropshire without the need for pre-bookings; this increases passenger choice."
