Sheffield taxis: "We set up a new Sheffield taxi firm after hearing disabled passengers are waiting for hours"

A collective of Sheffield taxi drivers have launched a new wheelchair-friendly cab service following horror stories of disabled customers waiting hours for rides.

A. Hammed, the manager of the new, accessible taxi company, told The Star: “This is important to me. One time I picked this elderly lady up and she had been waiting for three hours in the hospital and she was basically crying.

“People were putting them behind. It is not fair that they waited two, three hours for a taxi because they are disabled.”

Mr Hammed said it had become a more common issue amongst Sheffield’s drivers as taxi companies prioritise higher numbers of jobs. He added there were also limited numbers of local drivers who had vehicles suitable for wheelchair users.

As a result, Mr Hammed and some other local drivers created Time Travels. The new firm offers their services to everyone across South Yorkshire, including airport transfers as far as Heathrow in London - however, there is a special emphasis on being available and accessible for passengers who have disabilities.

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Mr Hammed, who has been a taxi driver for 15 years, continued: “A few drivers have gotten together and set up Time Travels, which specialises in wheelchair passengers. In Sheffield, there was nothing that catered for disabled people.

“There are none of those problems now because we are here.”

All Time Travels drivers are licensed in Sheffield, meaning they must pass extensive DBS and knowledge tests in order to gain a license from Sheffield City Council.