Taxi Driver Online

Green drive to put brakes on old taxis


Private hire taxi drivers could soon be forced to replace their old cars with newer models.

If new proposals are adopted, Tameside Council would refuse to licence private hire vehicles if they are more than eight years old. They would only issue a first licence to a vehicle if it is less than four years old.

Other changes could include removing the minimum engine size for private hire vehicles – which currently stands at 1500cc.

It’s all in a bid to make the borough greener and have more vehicles which meet EU emissions targets.

But the proposals, which were outlined at a meeting of the carbon reduction panel, have met with some opposition from industry representatives.

Akram Hussain of the Private Hire Association said: "It is an extra cost for drivers and it has come at a bad time – if a vehicle is already registered they should be able to renew it again. They’ll have to pay thousands for a new car and then the resale on plated cars is bad because of the mileage and other factors."

At present there are 656 private hire vehicles registered with the council – of which 110 are older than 10 years and a further 332 are aged between five and 10 years. The average age of a private hire vehicle in the borough is 7.55 years.

If approved, the changes could be brought in as soon as September for vehicles being registered for the first time and September 2011 for existing vehicles. They would only affect private hire vehicles and not black cab – though proposals to change their licensing are expected later

source: http://www.tamesideadvertiser.co.uk/news/

I thought a lot of councils were doing that already there is a logic to it but perhaps councils should start thinking along the same lines as roadtax and have a sliding scale of license fees based on a vehicles green footprint that would encourage drivers to change up to greener vehicles whilst allowing the timing of the change to be in line with the drivers finances

Good idea and adopted by at least one local authority.

But under the charging power of the 76 act completely illegal.

Now, if these LA's are serious......how about giving a driver a sum of money towards the purchase from a different pot?

CC

Now you are having a laugh.

BTW why not refuse the renewal on the vehicles' actual emissions, rather than an arbritary age limit?

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Emissions Mumbo Jumbo......if cars of old were so bloody deadly we would all have shuffled off this Mortal coil long before now

It's a strange way of looking at things but I do see your point. We are all, according to stats, living longer now. Strange considering all the things we are doing to ourselves that are so bad for is

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

CC did you deliberately change the headlines

I wish there was a Tootservative party standing in the next general election...it would win hands down on its commonsense mandate

Me tone? Never

ye right