Transport scheme for elderly one step closer

RACHEL PINDER
A scheme to provide subsidised transport for the elderly and disabled in Napier is one step closer to being extended.
Members of the Napier Health Services Advocacy Committee last week gave it the thumbs-up - and they will now make their submission on the Hawke's Bay Regional Council's Long Term Council Community Plan (LTCCP).
The Total Mobility Scheme provides subsidised taxi transport for people who are unable to use public transport or drive, due to significant, permanent disability.
But it appears that elderly and disabled citizens who live outside the approved areas of funding are not eligible for assistance from the Total Mobility Scheme taxi voucher system.
One elderly infirm woman, who did not want to be named, has revealed her request for taxi vouchers has been turned down. That means she will no longer be able to visit her doctor or health facilities as her husband was the only one who drove, and was now in residential care.
Committee member Denise Rouse said Bay View residents were not eligible for the scheme because they lived outside the zone.
The scheme is administered by the Hawke's Bay Regional Council, and is jointly paid for by the regional council and Transfund. Application assessments are done on behalf of council by a team of skilled and experienced assessors working with disability organisations.
The second criterion for eligibility is that the applicant lives within the "subsidised passenger transport targeted rating area".
This rate is levied on a property's land value and funds public bus transport subsidies and total mobility scheme subsidies. The rating area is updated annually based on urban expansion in Napier and Hastings, but does not include Awatoto, Meeanee, Poraiti and Bay View.
Like any subsidy arrangement, some people will be just outside the eligibility criteria. In this case, this may be due to the severity of a disability or where the applicant lives. Committee member Denise Rouse said Bay View residents were not eligible for the scheme because they lived outside the rating area.
"These people are not included in the rating area because they don't get transport included in their rates," she said. Napier mayor Barbara Arnott thought it was a very good scheme, but should not favour just some.
"What happens with the regional council is the majority of people pay for these subsidised schemes, even though we may not need it yet, to allow the minority who do need it to access it. We should put forward a submission to the regional council which says that those ratepayers who pay their rates for transport should not mind paying for those who really need it, who are less well off and less fortunate than themselves," she said.
Committee member Helen Francis is a total mobility assessor.
"Those people who live in an area serviced by public transport only get taxi vouchers if they're unable to use public transport because of a significant permanent disability. But there isn't any public transport in Bay View," she said.
Committee member Dr Andy Edwards said that according to the PHO any community service card holder can use a taxi from their home to the doctors, but it doesn't count between Napier and Hastings.
The Napier Health Services Advocacy Committee decided to make a submission to the Hawke's Bay Regional Council's LTCCP to extend the eligibility for the Total Mobility Scheme beyond its present boundaries.