The Mobility Councillor anticipates that vehicles that opt for conversion will have “a time bonus”
The City Council proposes that the sector convert licenses to increase the number of accessible taxis to 25
Before representatives of the three associations, the councillor explains that “Benidorm complies with the number of licenses established by the Valencian Law”
Benidorm City Council has proposed to the taxi sector to increase the number of adapted vehicles from 14 to 25 to improve the current ratio. The Councillor for Mobility, Francis Muñoz, launched this proposal during the meeting held today with the representatives of the three associations of the sector in the city, Radio Taxi, the Taxi Workers' Union Association and the Independent Association of Self-Employed Taxi Drivers.
According to Muñoz, "License holders who choose to convert their taxis into accessible ones will have a 'time bonus' that will allow them to work more hours per day than they are currently authorised to, thus making it easier to offset the investment involved."
The Councillor stressed that "Benidorm is a city with a clear strategy in favour of universal accessibility and for this reason, we consider it important to increase the number of accessible taxis for better service to residents and tourists." At the moment, just over 6% of the taxi fleet in Benidorm are vehicles adapted for people with reduced mobility, a percentage that would increase to over 10% with the proposal made by the City Council to the sector, double what is required by the regulations.
Regarding the possibility of increasing the current number of taxi licenses, as requested by the Taxi Workers' Union, Muñoz has pointed out that "Benidorm complies with the figures established by Valencian Law 13/2017 and is even above them, so for the moment no new licenses will be processed." The councillor has indicated that "we are aware that at peak times of tourist occupation, there may be sporadic situations of waiting by users, but it is also true that at other times when tourism is low, the demand is lower and there are no waits, justifying the current number of licenses." "We understand - he added - that one situation balances the other."
In the meeting, the councillor also mentioned the need to “take care of the appearance and image of taxis”, an issue that will be addressed by the local administration. “The taxi sector is part of the tourism value chain and it is important that the service and image they offer are the best”, explained Muñoz.