The Friends of Morrinsville Charitable Trust runs community transport for the region’s elderly residents, including a three-times-weekly dialysis service with early-morning pickups. Auto Transform’s purpose-built fitouts keep that service running.
Factory-standard interiors weren’t built for this job — difficult entry and exit, limited grab points, narrow seating, and insufficient accessibility created unnecessary discomfort and risk for elderly and mobility-impaired passengers.
Waikato Regional Transport and the local District Health Board — key funders of the Trust — required it to hold a Small Passenger Service Licence, meaning the vans needed modification to hold a Certificate of Fitness rather than a standard Warrant of Fitness.
We engineered fitout configurations that meet the compliance requirement and improve safety, comfort and accessibility: purpose-built seating, custom grab handles, automatic entry steps, Smartboard lining, vinyl flooring, and a full wheelchair-access system — giving passengers a more dignified, secure, well cared-for journey.
The Trust’s fleet has grown to three Auto Transform-fitted vans, with a fourth in progress: a wheelchair-hoist van kept to a 50km around-town radius for safety, and health shuttles covering the ~35km run to Hamilton for hospital appointments, including the dialysis service. Each fitout is built around that job — wider bench seating (two seats across instead of three) for older passengers, grab handles throughout, and roof-mounted ventilation in place of what used to be a stuffy cabin in summer.
“No one regrets paying for quality. While Auto Transform is more expensive than some providers, it’s buy it once, buy it right. We’ve got it all exactly how we want it, and there’s good backup service if we need it — that’s why we’ve stuck with Auto Transform.”
— John Petry, Trustee, The Friends of Morrinsville Charitable Trust
