Paralympian fundraising to bring accessible rideshare to Tāmaki Makaurau
Saturday, 9 July 2022
Paralympian Barney Koneferenisi is fundraising to launch an accessible rideshare service for people with disabilities. He said current Auckland transport services had left those with disabilities isolated, and “afraid”.
The dream had been in the pipeline for 10 years. He hoped to launch Safe Rides Ltd in December.
Koneferenisi said the service will operate in a similar way to other rideshare companies, but would be accessible and user-friendly for those with disabilities.
The vehicles would be equipped to fit the needs of passengers – female drivers, for females and pet-friendly vehicles for those reliant on guide dogs, he said.
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There was a “massive” gap in accessible transport in Tāmaki Makaurau, as Uber and other ride-sharing services were not suitable for disabled riders, he said.
Be. Lab, formerly known as Be. Accessible, worked with Uber in 2016 to launch its accessibility service. However, Uber Assist could only take customers with folding wheelchairs, walkers, and collapsible scooters, not those with fixed-frame wheelchairs.
An Uber spokesperson said Uber Assist was available in Auckland, but did not answer Stuff’s questions around accessibility concerns.
Koneferenisi said many people missed work or school due to current inaccessible transport options. He himself had been left stranded before.
But more concerning was the frequency at which vision- or hearing-impaired people had rides cancelled or refused, he said. “When the driver rejects, they can’t hear or see the driver’s left them.”
It was not just an accessibility issue, Koneferenisi said, as taxi drivers often took advantage and drove longer routes to increase the taxi meter.
The Total Mobility scheme subsidises transport for people with long-term impairments, and provided taxi trips at half-price, which he said encouraged drivers to try and hike up cost.
NZ Taxi Federation executive director Warren Quirke said he had not heard of taxi drivers taking longer routes to hike prices for disabled passengers. He said sometimes, there are two routes to get from A to B, and people have a perception one is significantly longer.
“The problem has always been people tend to travel at the same time and services get stretched,” he said.
Koneferenisi hopes to work with the Cerebral Palsy Society and the Muscular Dystrophy Association to organise the fleet of vans. He had also raised $38,000 on Givealittle towards additional equipment for the vans.
App development was under way and is expected to be completed in the upcoming weeks, he said.
Koneferenisi represented Aotearoa as part of the wheelchair rugby team during the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics.
Born in Samoa, Koneferenisi lost both legs at the knee, half of his right arm and the tips of the fingers on his left hand at 4 months old after contracting meningitis. He moved to Aotearoa as a child and took up wheelchair rugby during his teen years.