...GREEN MEANS GO...
CALL FOR NATIONAL TAXI REGISTER AHEAD OF LEEDS CLEAN AIR ZONE CHARGES
Fears have been raised that taxi and private hire vehicle drivers from Leeds could be unfairly penalised under a proposed Clean Air Charging Zone for the city. Leeds City Council’s Conservative Group leader Cllr Andrew Carter has called for the Government to set up a register of all taxis and private hire vehicles. He made the comments as proposals for a Clean Air Charging Zone – which would tax high-emission buses,
HGVs and taxis in the city – were put before Leeds City Council’s Executive Committee. Cllr Carter told the Yorkshire Evening Post: “I amvery con- cerned that it seems to me to be essen- tial that the Gov- ernment needs to come up with a reg- ister for taxis and private hire vehicles. “It would be very easy for private hire vehicles to drive in through our charg- ing zone and not be charged, where a vehicle from Leeds
will be charged. This is unacceptable and unsustainable. “We will be writing to Secretary of State Michael Gove urging him to make it hap- pen sooner rather than later.” Following the meet- ing, Zahid Mah- mood, vice chair of Leeds Private Hire Drivers’ Organisa- tion, said: “They need to build a database of drivers. We don’t want to see drivers with ten- year-old cars from Bradford being ex- empt from the clean
SOUTHAMPTON CITY COUNCIL TARGET HC DRIVERS
While all GMB mem- bers want to im- prove air quality within the city, Southampton City Council (SCC) has taken steps to make the running of a hackney carriage within Southampton cost
prohibitive,
says GMB Southern. The union has ques- tioned SCC’s re- action to calls for a “clean air zone”, by targeting some of its professional driv- er members. In a transport meet- ing held in June, SCC announced that hackney carriage drivers will need to move to electric vehicles, the cheap- est of which cost around £70,000. Barry Beaven, GMB Regional Officer
said: “SCC reacted to calls for a ‘clean air zone’ with a threat to cripple the livelihood of GMB members. The hack- ney carriage drivers of
Southampton
some of whom are GMBmembers seem to be the easiesttar- get in the quest for ‘clean air.’ “While the local Southampton Branch is willing to work with the council to achieve this ‘zone’, it is clear that this is not an easy solution. “The Council are tar- geting one of the smaller groups of stakeholders in this matter in the hope, in topical parlance, of an easy goal. “The council, along with TfL, is trying to steer our drivers
AUGUST 2018
towards EVs which is only moving the pol- lution to elsewhere. Anything powered by a battery will need charging, in the Southampton area electricity is not gen- erated in a way that is environmentally any better than the more efficient diesel engines our drivers are happy to drive. “The GMB is happy to talk about a uni- fied transport policy that fits with a wider ‘clean air zone’ ethos. What we are not happy to do is sit by and watch people’s sources of living destroyed and the local hackney carriage trade be replaced by out of town suppliers who are not licensed in the area.”
air charge when drivers from Leeds will have to pay it.” Cllr James Lewis, deputy leader of Leeds City Council, told the meeting: “I don’t think anyone would argue against doing this work, and in the directive we are under we have to work very quickly. “There will be a report next month looking atthe addi- tional measures around the areas of illegal air quality to improve it. In addi- tion to the charging zone, we are looking
at ways we can encourage the take- up of low emission vehicles, working with the govern- ment on Highways England roads, such as the M62 through Leeds.” He added that the council has ambi- tions to set up a scrappage scheme for high-emission vehicles.
The
scheme would see high-emission HGVs and buses being charged £50 a day, while taxis and pri- vate hire vehicles registered in the city
would pay £50 a week. It is hoped that the measures will encourage mot- orists using the city centre to drivemod- ern, greener vehicles – which would not be charged. Mmmm… Now here is yet another reason why folk are queuing up to request that Government sets up a national database – not only of drivers but also vehicles and operators. Never thought of the green penalty angle… Ed. See other Leeds article in RTC.
20 CHARGING POINTS FOR FOUR TAXIS IN CAMBRIDGE
More than £600K is being spent by Cambridge
City
Council (CCC) on 20 electric chargers for the city’s taxis - but there are only FOUR
vehicles
capable of using them. The city council could have bought 12 electric taxis with the money. According to the Cambridge News, currently there are just
two electric
hackney cabs and two electric private hire vehicles in the city. Cabbies say it would cost about £60,000 for one of the taxis - of which there are only two models. And it takes 30 min- utes to charge a taxi - which would last
for just 80 miles. Taxi drivers say they cover about 100-150 miles a day and between 150-200 at weekends in the city - which could mean about one hour a day at least charg- ing up electric taxis. Two of the rapid electric
vehicle
chargers have al- ready been installed in an effort
to
encourage more of the city’s taxi fleet to make the move to less polluting electric vehicles - but cabbies say it is “too soon.” The rapid chargers, which can provide 80 per cent charge to an electric taxi in just 30 minutes, have been installed in Adam and Eve Car Park off East
Road, using funds granted following a successful bid to the government’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV). Funds,
£426,000
totalling from
OLEV, along with additional contribu- tions of £100,000 each from the Greater Cambridge Partnership and the city council, will be used to install more than 20 rapid charg- ers in Cambridge and surrounding areas by 2020. Six chargers will be installed by the end of September at three locations: Cas- tle Hill car park, Arbury Court car park and an on- street location in Newmarket Road.
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