St. John's cab company attracting new business with accessible vehicles

A dip in the economy usually means less work for taxis but one company in St. John's is bucking that trend and actually expanding its fleet.

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While other companies are seeing business drop off,Newfound Cabs hasfound a way to attract some more business.Last May, the company became the first in the province to offer wheelchair-accessible rides.

"We drove people before with regular cars and wheelchairs, and it presented a bit of a challenge sometimes getting in. These new vans are quite simple to operate and people are not out in the rain trying to get into cars" saidDerekHayter, whodrives one of Newfound's ramp-equipped taxis.

So simple in fact,thatHayter says people are calling for them all the time.

"The need has grown rather substantially from a start of probably a couple of runs a day we're to the point now we doing close to 1000 runs a month," said Hayter.

The vans are quite simply to operate.- Derek Hayter

Newfound Cabs started with three accessible cabs but has since acquired six more accessible vehicles. Hayter saysdemand for those vehiclesis so high that the taxi company will soon beaddingtwo more accessible vans to bring the total to 11.

At first, with a smaller fleet, the company recommended booking rides 24-hours in advance, but with more vehicles the company expects wait times will decrease.

"The aim is to do it as promptly as we can. It's like the regular business sometimes,you're under heavy demand and it takes a few minutes to get there, and othertimes we're there before you hang up the phone," says Hayter.