Taxi Driver Online

Drivers fume at carbon link for annual taxi permit fee
Taxi drivers with the most polluting vehicles face a possible 15 per cent surcharge on their annual authorisation fee

Published: 04/06/2011

Licensing chiefs have pledged to listen to taxi drivers’ concerns as they prepare to push ahead with controversial plans to link permit charges to carbon emissions.

More than 250 taxi drivers with the most polluting vehicles in Cambridge face having to pay more to get their annual authorisation under the proposed scheme, while around 190 driving environmentally friendly cars would get discounts.

Thirty drivers would stay on the current rate of £195.

The city council is set to launch a consultation on the plans next week and has reined in the potential top level charges since they were first mooted last year.

Instead of maximum discounts and surcharges of 50 per cent and 60 per cent respectively, the limits would be 35 per cent and 15 per cent.

But taxi drivers remain uncertain and private hire traders could opt to register with a neighbouring authority if they oppose the system.

David Wratten, a director of Cambridge City Licensed Taxis, said one problem was that while all new hackney carriage licensees must run a vehicle which is accessible for wheelchair users, there were few green options for this category on the market.

There have also been calls for the scheme to be phased in to avoid penalising drivers who have recently bought a new vehicle unaware of the plans. Mr Wratten said a more pressing concern should be reducing pollution from buses.

These are responsible for 44 per cent of city centre emissions, compared to taxis, on 3 per cent.

Mr Wratten said: “I’m all in favour of greener vehicles, when they come along and are practical."

“There are a lot more buses pushing out a lot more emissions than we are.”

The issue will be considered by the council’s licensing committee on Monday. Chairman Cllr Julie Smith said: “I think we need to look at ways of creating a transitional arrangement."

“It’s very much out for consultation and that gives us scope to ensure we have a policy that works for the trade and also for all types of users.”

If all of Cambridge’s 500 hackney carriages and private hire cars moved up one emission band, 250,000kg of carbon dioxide would be cut from the city’s output.

Source; http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Dr ... 062011.htm

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

Something tells me this could be illegal.

Can a licensing authority charge various levels of fees for different Hackney or Private Hire vehicles?

_________________
Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

as there is NO proven link between CO2 gases and global climate change (cant call it global warming now) this is all one big con, even scientists cant agree, and cows fart out more in gases than all the worlds cars

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

So if you could collect it all you'd make a killing!!

_________________
Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

The Dvla RFL tells you instantly what your co is, and thats what you pay for your RFL
The MOT test is also based on this you ether pass or fail the smoke test
The council can only charge what is required to administer the licence, so is a no brain-er

Fella makes a good point.

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IDFIMH

Of course they can't.

Didn't the Guildford decision state that councils can only re-coup from the trade the costs of enforcement. That wasn't appealed and even the Minister mentioned it at the Transport Select Committee.

So is that council saying it cost more to enforce a taxi with high emissions?

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IDFIMH

didnt you post a thread with a vehicle+gas bag?.....

methane!

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

well with the price of gas going up and up I would have thought that some enterprising farmer would at least attempt to attach gas recoverery devices to his herd

World wide cows must produce enough methane to supply a country the size of Britain or maybe bigger

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector