The West End is a heritage precinct, which is wonderful to look at and unforgiving to wheels. Kerb ramps are inconsistent, several of the best-known buildings have their step-free entrance somewhere other than the front door, and the parking near anywhere worth going to is either metered, full, or both. The practical answer for most wheelchair users is to be set down at the destination itself rather than parked near it.
Health trips dominate our Fremantle work. Fiona Stanley Hospital at Murdoch is about fifteen minutes away and takes most of the acute and specialist load for the southern suburbs. Fremantle Hospital on South Terrace still runs a range of services and clinics. St John of God Murdoch sits next to Fiona Stanley on the same precinct. Between them they generate a steady stream of appointments, day surgeries and discharges that need an accessible vehicle rather than a standard sedan.
The other Fremantle speciality is the passenger terminal at Victoria Quay. Cruise arrivals and departures put a lot of people with mobility equipment onto one wharf inside a short window, and taxi supply there is competitive at the best of times. An accessible vehicle on a cruise day is something to book well ahead, not something to look for on the day.