Whanganui mobility scooter users affected by change to Horizons Regional Council's Total Mobility Scheme

Alan Willis-Croft says a change to the Total Mobility Scheme means a trip home from town will cost him $14 instead of $4.

Whanganui mobility scooter users are no longer able to claim a Total Mobility taxi travel subsidy under the scheme operated by Horizons Regional Council.

While users are still eligible for mobility cards, the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has advised Horizons that mobility scooter users cannot claim the taxi travel subsidy which, for Whanganui users, was up to $10 per trip.

Mobility scooter user Alan Willis-Croft said the change meant a trip home from his voluntary job would now cost him $14 instead of $4 and made him question whether it was worth continuing his volunteer fundraising work.

While Willis-Croft can use his scooter to get into town, it can't make it back up a steep hill to his Durie Hill home and most mobility scooters cannot use the Durie Hill Elevator.

Horizons Regional Council transport manager Phil Hindrup said Horizons has allowed the transportation of scooters for at least five years and the change centres around clarification of NZTA's wheelchair hoist policy.

"A question was raised late last year from another council about whether mobility scooters could be transported safely," Hindrup said.

"We checked with NZTA then, and again early in the new year, to make sure that this practice was supported. NZTA confirmed the use of the hoist ramp must be done so with the person hoisted, harnessed safely in their device. We passed this communication on to our operators to ensure they were compliant.

"At that time, we had no ruling from NZTA that mobility scooters couldn't be hoisted."

However, in October NZTA was asked whether scooters could be hoisted at all and the agency said they could not.

"As a result we have had to make a change to Total Mobility, and have therefore informed our operators of this as no subsidy will be honoured for mobility scooters," Hindrup said.

"We understand that this will have a financial impact on some users, which we empathise with, however we are obliged to follow NZTA's policy."

NZTA says under traffic law, a mobility scooter is considered a vehicle.

"Under the Total Mobility Scheme, the hoist fee applies only to wheelchairs," a spokeswoman said.

"When the hoist fee was introduced, and then later amended, mobility scooters were not and have never been included as part of the fee."

Age Concern Wanganui and Sommerville Disability Support Services, which carry out assessments in Whanganui for the Total Mobility Scheme, were not aware of concerns about the change to the subsidy for mobility scooter users.