Our Christmas Present To Oceanside

Oceanside Taxi is happy to announce the addition of a 2nd Wheelchair Taxi just in time for Christmas! Travel to and from your celebrations safely and comfortably.  Call us at 250-954-TAXI (8294).

All the best to you, your friends and family this holiday season.  We thank you for your support in our first year and we look forward to serving you in 2012!

A note for New Years Eve Customers:

Oceanside Taxi has four vehicles and all four will be operating on this night.  This is the busiest night of the year for taxi companies and wait times for cabs can often exceed an hour.  Oceanside Taxi Call-takers, Dispatchers and Drivers will do their best to meet this high demand.  Our computerized dispatching system notes the time of your call and the pick-up location and places them in a queue.  The mobile units in the vehicles "read" the queue and ensure that your call is never "lost" or "forgotten."  Tips for Customers:

• Call one hour in advance; pre-dates are not possible
• State your location and destination as well as how many in your group or if you need a wheelchair taxi (most vehicles carry up to 5 passengers)
• Keep the call brief; call-takers have many calls waiting
• Do NOT book a call with both Alliance Taxi and Oceanside Taxi; doing so will cause longer wait times
• Please be patient; we'll do our best to make it an enjoyable, safe and quick ride home

Oceanside Remembrance Day Events

Parksville Cenotaph (behind city hall):
~ 10:30 a.m. muster and parade to cenotaph
~ 11 a.m. ceremony
 
Qualicum Beach:
~ 10:15 a.m. muster and parade to the Civic Centre
~ 11 a.m. ceremony

Bowser Legion:
~ 10:30 a.m. ceremony

Oceanside Taxi is offering

free transportation for Veterans 

to attend these events.

Please call and pre-book early: 250-954-TAXI (8294) 

We are thankful for the sacrifices made for us.

Lest we forget.

Accessible Taxi on the road in Oceanside!

Thank you, Oceanside supporters!

The Passenger Transportation Board of BC has approved our application to offer wheelchair accessible taxi service in the Oceanside region. Starting July 6th passengers that are confined to a wheelchair or scooter can call for a taxi at 250-954-TAXI (8294) and receive priority service in our new, specially converted van (drive-in access for one wheelchair/scooter in the back of the van, secured down with two straps in the front and back).

We would like to invite you to celebrate Canada's birthday (and this new service for Oceanside) by walking or rolling with us in your scooter or wheelchair at the Canada Day Parade on July 1st. Drinks and flags will be provided. We understand many of you would prefer to watch or will be participating with other floats and service groups and will not be able to join us however we look forward to seeing you at some point during the event. We will be gathering at the parade marshalling area (Shelly & Pioneer) from 8:30 to 10:00; please contact Mike at 250-951-1271 if you have any questions.

Thank you again and we hope you have a great weekend!

Regards,
Mike & Kirsten Muelleder
Oceanside Taxi

May's "Must-See" Events in Oceanside

Oceanside Taxi is off to a great start and we're looking forward to May - the start of the tourist season and some big, annual events here in Oceanside.

But first, an update on our "quest" for an accessible taxi licence (since some of you have been asking): the PTB is now reviewing the application and submissions from the community.  We're not sure how long this process is going to take but we'll keep you posted.  In the meantime, please help us thank a few of the individuals and groups that offered their encouragement and support letters:  the Society of Organized Services, Michelle Stilwell (Paralympic gold medalist), Dorothy with Driving Miss Daisy, the Town of Qualicum, ETHOS Career Management Group, Nancy Whelan (of local "Williwaw" fame) and Gerry Price with the Measuring Up Committee (there are more - and we thank you, too - but too many to list here).  We've been blessed to be included in a community that is so passionate about giving everyone, no matter what the circumstances, a chance to fully enjoy and participate in all that Oceanside has to offer.  If you want sand between your toes and don't mind getting it in your... wheelchair... then we're hoping that you'll soon be able to travel in one of our accessible taxis to one of the beautiful Oceanside beaches.

On to May "mentions"... have you made plans for Mother's Day, yet?  It's this Sunday the 8th (all day, men, with no hockey breaks) and the taxis are ready to go.  Flower deliveries are a big hit at this time of year, too (we'll do the delivery!).  But what about the Fire and Ice Festival in Qualicum or one of the newly opened Farmers Markets?  We don't want anyone to miss out on these events so we'll have our cars and van out in these areas on Saturday May 7th.  The annual Joint Chamber Meeting with Parksville and Qualicum is coming up on the 12th (Oceanside Taxi has RSVP'd) at the Parksville Community & Conference Centre (we think we'll take a cab to this event). Our family is also looking forward to Family Days (we love a good parade) in Qualicum on the 29th - hope we see you there!

Parksville and Qualicum have some great groups working to let you know what's going on in the community so we thought we'd share a few of their online links with you...

Qualicum Beach and Parksville Tourism
Parksville Chamber of Commerce
Qualicum Beach Chamber of Commerce
Harbour Living

Accessible Taxi for Oceanside

"See a need; fill a need."

You spoke; we listened:  "Oceanside needs more accessible transportation."  Community members signed petitions, the Parksville Measuring Up committee gave us their letter of support and we submitted an application for two Accessible Taxi Licences so that Oceanside Taxi could help meet this urgent need. 

On April 13, 2011 the Passenger Transportation Board denied the "Urgent Need" and disregarded the petitions that we based our application on.  They state that "urgent need" would have been justified if all other forms of accessible transportation in our community had shut down.  The Board also stated that petitions do not carry much weight in their decision-making. 

In denying "Urgent Need" the Board has begun a process where they seek out submissions from the community and other transportation services to help them make a decision to grant or deny our Accessible Taxi application.  Oceanside can still get an Accessible Taxi ... but it will take your individual support. 

We all know that Oceanside is underserviced for accessible transportation and the Passenger Transportation Board is giving us ten days to make a case for more accessible transportation.

Write us a letter and email or send it to us by April 26th and we will include it in our package. State that you DO want an Accessible Taxi in Oceanside and WHY you believe there is a need:

• Share your stories of how you, a client or a loved one needed an accessible vehicle but the current services were unable to help.
• Let the Passenger Transportation Board know you would take an Accessible Taxi if there was one.

Please call Mike at (250) 951-1271 if you have any questions. Thank you for your support and encouragement.

Michael Muelleder
Oceanside Taxi
3560 Columbine Rd
Qualicum Beach, BC
V9K 1V7

Local newspapers introduce Oceanside Taxi

Love the free press!   Check out these links from our local newspapers:

Oceanside Star (April 7, 2011)
New taxi company for fare Oceanside

PQB News (April 12, 2011)
New taxi company starts up in Oceanside

By the way, can anyone guess who "Bill" Muelleder is?

The night before launch and all through the house...

We're still awake.  Last minute details and a flurry of activity - oh, where did these last few weeks go? - as we get ready for the long-awaited Oceanside Taxi.  Launch day - April 7th - we will wake up, get the kids ready for school and look at each other to confirm that "it" is really happening.  We'll coordinate vehicles, last minute PTB paperwork and Drivers/Dispatchers so that - when Mike says "OK" - the phone will turn on and we will "magically" be in business.

None of this could have been done without the people we've been blessed to come to know.  The staff and administration at Nanaimo's AC Taxi (and Jay!), the mechanics and wiring geniuses at Top Lite, Nanaimo Autobody (last-minute magicians) and our ever-faithful Stanford Auto and Terminal Autobody friends  in Parksville.  Can't forget Jon at Signs, Banners and More in Coombs - the decals on the vehicles are AMAZING!

It's been an awesome challenge launching the new Oceanside Taxi service and we're just getting started.  Drivers are looking forward to getting out there and "playing" with all of the new mobile dispatching and debit/credit equipment and Dispatchers are hoping everything goes smoothly.  Thank you to all of you readers who are our new customers - your patience with any glitches will be appreciated and we hope you love our Drivers as much as we do.  The word is spreading and we are grateful for your encouragement and support.

More exciting news on the progress of our wheelchair accessible taxi application... coming soon!

Mike & Kirsten Muelleder