WATDA

Who: Wheelchair Accessible Taxi Drivers' Association

When: December 2014

Where: Melbourne

Code: https://github.com/RHoKAustralia/melb-watda-maxicab-booking

The Wheelchair Accessible Taxi Drivers' Association (WATDA) works with the disability services sector through the operation of wheelchair accessible taxis. Many of their drivers come from the Horn of Africa, and are struggling with the lack of regular jobs, long working hours, and lack of basic amenities like insurance work cover and superannuation. WATDA wants to connect taxi drivers with disability services to ensure better and faster service. This has the twin benefit of improving working conditions for drivers at the same time as reduce the waiting times for disabled people needing taxis. 
 
They worked with RHoK at the Melbourne Summer 2014 Hackathon to build a standalone app that could help coordinate drivers. However that proved to be too ambitious, so we switched to trying to improve their website so that potential customers can easily get hold of drivers. They're now looking to build an automated booking service that will tell drivers where their next client is.