PEOPLE with a disability are being denied equal access to public life and employment because of inadequate taxi services.A Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission report has shown that waiting times and reliability are still obstacles for people with a disability when accessing taxi services, despite reform to the taxi industry.The report, Time To Respond – Three Years On, was launched by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner Dr Helen Szoke in Bendigo yesterday.A survey conducted this year, the report states, indicated that people with a disability were having trouble with taxis related to safety, customer service, complaint handling and education and training.“Passengers are still feeling physically insecure during their journey,’’ the report notes.“Forty per cent raised concerns about dangerous and rough driving and more than 29 per cent felt anxious during their journey.“Passengers generally felt anxious when a driver was new to them, had poor English or was abusive or rude towards them.’’Respondents raised concerns about driver courtesy and communication, passengers being poorly restrained, feeling vulnerable in terms of being alone with the driver and poor driver street knowledge. “The responses highlight the vulnerability people in wheelchairs feel when completely dependent on the actions of a taxi driver to provide their safety,” the report states. The 2007 Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission report Time to Respond: Realising equality for people with a disability utilising taxi services made seven recommendations. Dr Szoke said that since the 2007 report, the government and Victorian Taxi Directorate had made some progress, but there was still a lot of work to be done to make taxi services more accessible for people with a disability.“Three years on, the follow-up report makes it clear there is still a lot of work to be done to improve timeliness, booking and payment methods, access to conventional taxis and the overall quality of the service,” she said.“Taxi services are a critical means of public transport for people with disabilities particularly in regional Victoria where there are limited transport options.”