One was signed today, Friday agreement between the Municipality and some of the city’s taxi drivers for the creation of a service to support the mobility of the totally blind, partially blind and partially sighted residents in the city.
The agreement provides that the Municipality will make available to those entitled “taxi vouchers” worth €6.00 (€5.00 paid by the Municipality and €1.00 paid by the taxi driver) to partially cover the cost of the ‘purchase of races.
Each beneficiary, after having submitted the application to the Municipality with the documentation certifying the disability attached, will be entitled to a maximum of 50 vouchers which can be spent on journeys carried out both within the municipal territory and outside and which can be cumulated to a maximum of 3 (if the cost of the ride will exceed that of the vouchers, the sum will be integrated by the beneficiary). The Municipality will make available the sum of €7,500 for the disbursement of 1,500 vouchers.
The contribution amount paid by the Municipality will be paid to each taxi driver following a reimbursement request submitted monthly, attaching the taxi vouchers delivered by the users. The initiative was promoted by the Administration also on the proposal of the Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired. The Disability Manager of the Municipality of Busto Arsizio expressed a positive opinion on this.
«This agreement with the city’s taxi drivers is great news for Busto. There are 70 potential users certified by INPS and the service will have coverage based on needs” – explains the Social Services councilor Paola Reguzzoni.
Satisfied too Francesco Marchisella, representative of the taxi drivers of Radio Taxi Busto Arsizio: «We are happy for this agreement because it is a topic that is close to our hearts and to me in particular since I had a visually impaired father. Our colleagues belonging to Radio Taxi were happy with this opportunity which also allows us to raise awareness of a service which in Busto has 9 licenses with 12 drivers, active from 7am to 11pm with direct call and by reservation even at night”.
The same type of initiative has already been activated in Gallarate but in Busto it is also possible to combine three vouchers which can cover the entire journey for the maximum route, the cost of which is around 18 euros. Each user will be able to request a booklet of 50 nominative vouchers which have a total value of 300 euros. The objective is to extend it to the neighboring municipalities of the Olona Valley as well.
Also the vice-president of the Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired of the Varese section, Antonio Ramponi, wanted to applaud the initiative which will prove to be very useful: «We want to thank both the municipal administration and Radio Taxi on behalf of the association. In Gallarate the service had a positive response and we hope to have it in Busto Arsizio too.”
