Rentals of two-wheelers and passenger cars were well received in Poland. Their popularity is confirmed, if only, by a large number of users. The existing ones can soon be joined by new one, this time dedicated to people with disabilities.

Out of nearly 4 million Poles who have a disability certificate about 200,000 have the licenses to drive vehicles. Even fewer have their own car. The reason in most cases is the same - funds. Firstly, for the purchase of a vehicle, secondly for a specialist adaptation that can consume even tens of thousands of zlotys.

To meet the needs of people with reduced mobility, the Motor Transport Institute established in 2015 the Automotive Service Centre for People with Disabilities - the first institution in Poland that comprehensively enables people with mobility impairments to move about at the level of fully healthy persons.

- As part of extending the Centre's offer, we will prepare a pilot car-sharing platform scheme operating in Warsaw. We dedicate the solution based on existing technologies to people with disabilities who need an occasional and specialized means of transport. It comes from our simple assumption that with limited funds it is better to rent than to buy a car, which is still unused for most of the time - explains Prof. Marcin Ślęzak, director of the Motor Transport Institute, in which the Centre operates.

The car-sharing platform for the disabled will be created in cooperation with the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw. The experiences of the university will be used, among the others in the scope of developing and implementing the concept from the IT side and the subsystem of data analysis and decision making support.

- As a university, we are open to all innovations. At the same time, we want to eliminate barriers that prevent people with disabilities from actively participating in social life. One of such obstacles is the lack of specialized mobility. I am convinced that cooperation with the Motor Transport Institute is the foundation of a much needed project that connects people in its idea - emphasized the rector of the University, Rev. Prof. Stanisław Dziekoński.

The letter of intent, which is an expression of the will to cooperate for a modern car-sharing platform for people with reduced mobility, was signed on September 3, 2018.

The purpose of the agreement is to undertake activities by UKSW and MTI in the scope of creating a national, dedicated transport service with a rental profile, intended for disabled people, called "Mobi-ON".

According to the assumptions, the platform will provide pilot transport services in Warsaw relying primarily on ten MTI vehicles adapted to the needs of people with various types of disabilities.