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Wheelchair Accessible Taxis in the North East

Accessible Taxis in the North East

Disabled people across the North East and Tees Valley are being left without a reliable way to travel. This page brings together the evidence on wheelchair-accessible taxis and private hire vehicles in our region, tracks how local fleets are changing, and shows where our MPs stand on the changes needed.

The figures come from Freedom of Information responses supplied by all twelve local authorities, and are updated as new data arrives. MP responses are shown in their own words.

On this page

Wheelchair-accessible taxis and private hire vehicle (PHVs) in the North East

North East picture

6%

In the North East, just 810 of 13,386 licensed taxis and private hire vehicles are wheelchair accessible: 6%, compared with 11.5% across England in 2024.

These figures show how many vehicles are licensed, not whether a disabled person can book one when they need to travel…

I’ve watched a driver clock my wheelchair, and then the screen says ‘finding you a new driver’.
The driver took one look at my guide dog, said ‘Sorry, I can’t’, and drove off.

How local areas compare

One licensed wheelchair-accessible vehicle (WAV) for every…

Hartlepool2,628 residents
Redcar and Cleveland1,323 residents
Stockton-on-Tees882 residents
Darlington834 residents
Gateshead682 residents
Middlesbrough480 residents
County Durham475 residents
South Tyneside327 residents
NORTH EAST OVERALL323 residents
Northumberland276 residents
North Tyneside243 residents
Sunderland203 residents
Newcastle124 residents

Residents = those whose day-to-day activities were limited a lot (Census 2021). This table shows differences between areas, not whether vehicles are available when needed.

What needs to change

The Transport Committee has set out recommendations to improve taxi and PHV accessibility. Proposed legislation offers an opportunity to establish them as consistent national standards.

Accessibility recommendations we support

Better training

Mandatory, high-quality disability awareness and equality training for drivers and operators, with refreshers and effective enforcement.

More accessible vehicles

A national WAV plan with a single fleet requirement, published provision, incentives – including in rural areas – and funding for drivers.

More ways to book

A range of digital and non-digital ways to find and book services.

One route for complaints

A single, digitally inclusive national complaints and incident-reporting portal.

There is no nationally required minimum proportion of WAVs. Recommendation 14 calls on the Government to set one and require authorities to report progress.

Sources and method: WAV figures supplied by 12 North East local authorities through FOI responses in 2026. North East totals are sums of authority figures. Local ratios were calculated using ONS Census 2021 table TS038, “Disabled under the Equality Act: day-to-day activities limited a lot,” divided by licensed WAVs and rounded to the nearest whole number. England comparison: DfT Taxi and PHV Statistics 2024 (revised). Recommendations: Transport Committee, Raising the standard, June 2026. Quotes: Difference North East members, 2025.

Wheelchair Accessible and Electric Taxi Coverage

Tracking wheelchair accessible vehicles and electric or zero emission vehicles across local taxi fleets in the North East and Tees Valley.

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MP Responses on Accessible Taxis

Tracking replies from North East and Tees Valley MPs to our letter on the Transport Committee’s taxi and private hire vehicle accessibility recommendations. Comments are shown in each MP’s own words where we have them.

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