Company leases from nonprofit, will make service available 24/7

Nancy Andison felt locked up not by her multiple sclerosis but by Juneau's lack of flexible transportation for wheelchair users.
Her options have expanded with a new handicapped-accessible van, which Juneau Taxi and Tours leases from a nonprofit agency. That agency will also subsidize fares with a federal grant.

Andison's electric wheelchair is too big to fit into an ordinary van. Care-A-Van, the city's primary transportation for seniors and people with disabilities, doesn't go beyond the Alaska Marine Highway Terminal and limits its operation from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

"There are many cases Care-A-Van didn't fill all my needs," Andison said. "For example, I broke my leg and needed to go to the hospital. I didn't need an ambulance, but I knew darn well I needed to go to have my leg treated. Care-A-Van requires 24-hour notice and sometimes substantially more. I didn't have 24-hour notice that I was going to break my leg."

But if the same thing happens today, Andison just needs to call Juneau Taxi and Tours for its wheelchair-accessible van. The vehicle, the first of its kind in Juneau, has a lift to move a wheelchair into the van. It also has ropes on the floor to tie down a wheelchair.

"The service will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week," said the taxi company's manager, Roland Pope.

J.C. Harris, owner of Juneau Taxi and Tours, said the company has about 20 regular customers with disabilities. Before the company had the accessible van, only some of its drivers were strong enough to lift people with disabilities and their wheelchairs into a regular van.

 Juneau Taxi and Tours leases the van from Southeast Alaska Independent Living - a nonprofit that provides independent-living services to people with disabilities throughout Southeast Alaska. The organization has spent two years applying for a state grant to buy a wheelchair-accessible van.

"We saw this big need for it because there is a hole in the current transportation services for people with disabilities," said Joan O'Keefe, executive director of Southeast Alaska Independent Living. "We are not taking away business from Care-A-Van. We just see a niche for the market."

This month, users of the accessible van need to pay the full price. But starting in October they can buy coupons from the Southeast Alaska Independent Living office. With the coupons, clients will pay less than half the fare.

 Clients who want to arrange a pickup should call Juneau Taxi and Tours at 790-4511.