What to have ready before you call
Most of the friction in an accessible booking comes from information arriving late. A dispatcher can allocate the right vehicle in under a minute if they have the whole picture, or spend three phone calls assembling it if they do not.
Have these nine things to hand and the call takes a fraction of the time.
- Pick-up address, including the unit number and which street the entrance faces.
- Destination, including the specific building, ward, clinic or terminal.
- Date and time, and whether that time is the appointment or the pick-up.
- What you travel in: manual wheelchair, powered wheelchair or mobility scooter.
- Whether you will stay in the chair for the journey or transfer to a seat.
- How many people are travelling with you, including carers and support workers.
- Any assistance you want beyond the kerb, such as help from the front door.
- How you are paying: card, cash, PTSS smartcard, NDIS plan manager or an account.
- A mobile number the driver can reach on the day.
How far ahead should you book?
The honest answer depends on the trip, not on the operator's marketing. Wheelchair accessible vehicles are a small fraction of any taxi fleet, and each one is committed for the whole of a journey plus the empty run back. That is the entire reason same-day availability is unpredictable.
As a rule of thumb across the Perth metro:
- Fixed-time trips, meaning flights, surgery, dialysis, court, a wedding: 48 hours, and more in school holidays.
- Hospital and specialist appointments: 24 to 48 hours.
- Recurring trips such as day programs or weekly dialysis: set up a standing booking, so the same slot is held every week.
- Hospital discharges: call as soon as the ward gives you an estimate, and adjust it later. Waiting for a confirmed discharge time before booking is the single most common way people end up stuck in a corridor.
- Casual trips, shopping, visiting: same day is usually workable in the inner and middle suburbs, and less so at the edges of the metro.
If an operator promises a guaranteed accessible vehicle within the hour, anywhere, at any time, treat that with suspicion. Nobody in Perth has that many vehicles.
Why your equipment changes the vehicle
A wheelchair accessible vehicle is not one thing. Some load from the rear on a fold-out ramp, some use a hydraulic lift, and the two suit different equipment. A heavy powered chair or a long mobility scooter may not be safe on a ramp with a steep approach angle, and a lift has weight limits.
Restraint matters as much as loading. In a compliant vehicle the chair is secured with certified tie-downs at four points and the passenger has a separate seatbelt. Chairs vary in where those anchor points are, and some very lightweight or unusual frames are not designed to be occupied during travel at all. If your chair came with a manufacturer's transit rating, mention it.
None of this is a reason to hold back detail. It is the reason to give it. A driver who arrives knowing you use a 150 kg powered chair brings the right vehicle. A driver who finds out on the verge cannot.
What to say about the pick-up point
Ramps need somewhere flat to land. That sounds obvious and it is the thing most often left out of a booking.
Worth mentioning: steps at the front door, a gravel or unsealed driveway, a steep drive, a narrow gate, a shared carpark with a height barrier, or a street with no kerb. High-roof accessible vans are taller than a standard car and a surprising number of apartment and shopping-centre carparks will not take one.
At the destination end, name the entrance. Fiona Stanley, Joondalup Health Campus and St John of God Midland all have multiple set-down points that are not close to each other, and Perth Airport has four terminals across two precincts. Giving a ward or a terminal number turns a ten-minute loop into a direct arrival.
How you pay, and what a subsidy does to the fare
Wheelchair accessible taxi fares in Western Australia run on the same government maximum metered rates as any other taxi. There is no accessibility surcharge, and there should not be a lift fee. On weekday Tariff 1 that is a $5.60 flagfall plus $2.20 per kilometre, so a 10 km trip is about $27.60 before waiting time.
The Passenger Transport Subsidy Scheme is where the number changes. A purple PTSS card pays 75% of the fare, capped at a $35 subsidy, when you travel in your wheelchair in a wheelchair accessible taxi. The yellow standard card pays 50% up to $25. The card is tapped in the vehicle at the start and end of the trip, so it has to be with you.
NDIS participants can also have transport funded through their plan, which works differently: it is not a discount at the kerb but a funding category the trip is billed against. The two schemes answer different questions and it is worth knowing which one applies to you before the driver arrives.
Fares and subsidy caps are set by the WA Department of Transport and reviewed annually. Figures here were checked in August 2026. Confirm current rates when you book.
Booking by phone, form or message
Phone is still the fastest route for anything urgent or complicated, because a dispatcher can ask the follow-up question that a form cannot. It is the right choice for same-day trips, discharges and anything where the timing is uncertain.
An online enquiry form or a message suits planned trips, where you want a written record of what was agreed and you are not in a hurry for the answer. It is also easier if speaking on the phone is difficult for you, which for a good number of our passengers it is.
Whichever you use, ask for the booking to be read back to you, and check the pick-up time rather than the appointment time. Those two get confused more often than any other detail in the process.