...GREEN MEANS GO...


EDINBURGH DRIVERS FUMING AS CABS FACE SCRAPHEAP OVER EMISSIONS TARGET


Nearly half of Edin- burgh’s taxis are to be forced from the road in a massive emissions cull, the Evening News has revealed. The


Scotsman


reports that all black cabs older than ten years will need to be


replaced by 2020 under a new Edin- burgh City Council policy, accounting for 616 vehicles of a fleet of 1316. Drivers have slamm- ed the council plans to meet EU guide- lines as rushed and poorly researched,


with many likely to have to quit the trade as it faces a £20 million upgrade bill. “We want to be part of the solution on air quality and we should be get- ting support from the council,” Edin- burgh Taxi Asso-


NOTTINGHAM CLEAN AIR ZONE PLANS DROPPED


Nottingham City Council has an- nounced that city- wide measures to reduce


pollution


which are already underway havemade plans for a Clean Air Zone (CAZ) redun- dant. According to Coach and Bus Week, the recently-announced retrofitting


pro-


gramme – which involves modifying 180 NottinghamCity Transport


(NCT)


buses to meet Euro VI emissions stan- dards – is one of the main projects which has


contributed


towards the air qual- ity improvements. Additionally, the city now requires every taxi and private hire vehicle to be low- emissions, and the council has replaced its bin lorries and other heavy vehicles with electric or more environmen- tally-friendly altern- atives. The council is con- sidering plans to revise the existing ‘Clear Zone’ – which


40


restricts access to the city centre – to include emissions criteria and a taxi permit scheme. Cllr Sally Longford said: “Results of air quality modelling showed these mea- sures will have a significant effect in reducing emissions, bringing Notting- ham into com- pliance by 2020. “Although we con- sidered a Class B Clean Air Zone – which would have affected


HGVs,


buses and taxis – the actions we’re taking will have a positive


across the whole city, rather thanjust in one area.” The council’s Execu- tive Board were to consider the follow- ing proposals in July: • Delivering


retrofitting pro- gramme for NCT’s older buses with clean


technology


meet Euro VI stan- dards;


• Enforcing the Taxi and Private Hire


exhaust to


impact


Vehicle Strategy age policy to reduce the age of the hackney car- riage and private hire fleet, support- ed with the intro- duction of an in- centives package to shift the taxi fleet towards low emission vehicles, including a ‘try before you buy’ leasing scheme; and


• Delivering the


council’s own fleet renewal programme to purchase new EVs in its special- ist/heavy fleet


the


The board will also be asked to ap- prove, in principle, further measures, including amending the city’s two Air Quality Management Areas to cover the whole city, and seek- ing to enforce anti-idling legislation. If these measures are agreed, a public consultation will take place during August before the city’s final local air quality plan is sub- mitted.


ciation chairman


Mark McNally said. “But we feel that we’ve been singled out as a group and the benefits are insignificant.


It’s


unacceptable.” With drivers facing forking out up to £62,000 for a top- of-the-range new taxi, representatives fear for their futures. “Some of these guys are 55 or 60-plus and they won’t be given finance to renew these vehi- cles,” Mr McNally said. He maintained the taxi trade was committed to help- ing improve air quality in the city, but that measures have been adopted way ahead of other initiatives, including low emission zones. “We find ourselves singled out with no evidence to show what impact this will have on improving air quality,” he said. Although many drivers still use cars more than ten years old, Mr McNally assured these were


still viable vehicles. The Edinburgh Taxi Association polled its 500 members and four in five said they would find it difficult to continue in the trade in light of the new fleet requirements. New age restrictions on taxis come into effect in April next year, though drivers get a year’s leeway if their car’s licence expires in 2020. Patrick Gallagher, 44, from Moredun, has been a cabbie in Edinburgh for a decade and drives a 12-year-old model. “I found out in March it had to be off the road next April – 13 months’


notice,


whereas in London they got five years’ notice,” Mr Gal- lagher said. A council spokes- woman said drivers have been consulted since June 2016, leading to tweaked plans,


including


dropping the age limit of cars from five years to ten. Proposalsweredrawn


up to bring Edin- burgh in line with most other UK cities. Mmmm… The guys are right: they have a serious problem if their cabs have to come off the road by 2020. Trouble is, councils are too concerned about the government fin- ing them billions for unclean air, and their knee-jerk reaction is to go for a sitting target:


taxis, that


rank up, often with their engines run- ning. But how about other causes of pol- lution, such asWhite Van Man (delivery companies for the likes of Amazon, eBay and so on); mid-city pedestri- anised zones that cause vehicles to drive miles out of their way to accom- modate city centre passengers; a lack of planting of trees and shrubs to aid in air quality… the list is quite long, not to mention ordinary motorists, buses, lorries, etc etc. – Ed.


TFL: ONE HUNDRED AND COUNTING


The number of rapid charge points in- stalled by Transport for London has now risen to 104, 52 of which are exclusive- ly for use by taxis. Mayor Sadiq Khan, said: “The roll-out of rapid


charging


points marks a big step forward in the


shift to ZEC vehi- cles, which the Capital desperately needs to clean up our toxic air. But widespread change will not happen until a sufficient charging infrastructure is in place, allowing taxi drivers, businesses and Londoners to


easily make the switch.” The Mayor wants more businesses and London residents to switch to electric vehicles, and is com- mitted to working with the private sec- tor


to AUGUST 2018 expand


charging infrastruc- ture in the Capital.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88