Don't know why the Coventry drivers moaning about fees (last week) and green cabs (this week) when they're earning £65k per annum
Clean air drive to hit taxis with further cost
https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/ ... y-16814819
Measures are being introduced to help reduce levels of nitrogen dioxide in the city
Coventry’s taxis must clean up their emissions as part of the city’s clean air fight, but fears have been raised over the significant cost to do so.
Coventry City Council's cabinet is recommended to approve new emission-based licensing requirements for hackney carriage and private hire vehicles on Tuesday, August 27.
Measures are being introduced to help reduce levels of nitrogen dioxide in the city. According to the government there is evidence that the gas can inflame the airways in our lungs and, over a long period of time, affect how well our lungs work.
People with asthma are particularly affected and it can also affect vegetation.
From January, only vehicles with Euro 4 engines will have licences renewed, and new applicants must all have zero emission capability.
All vehicles must have zero emission capacity from 2024.
The cost
Replacing cars to meet emission requirements would cost around £60,000 to £70,000, a council meeting was told last year.
But Coventry council is only providing funding of £2,591 to the first 60 taxis.
A further £7,500 is offered by the government towards the cost, but this only equates to around £10,000 – leaving a significant shortfall for taxis.
Shadow cabinet member for city services Cllr Tim Mayer said: “The fact we are only going to be helping the first 60 is incredibly insulting.
“We have over 1,260 registered licenced drivers.
“It is not enough. It is a token gesture.
“We can drive income to pay for this and at the moment we are hitting people who are trying to make a living.”
It comes just days after a council committee agreed to increase licence fees for the first time since 2009, with cabbies warning they can’t afford it.
Cllr Mayer added: “In light of the fact we have now put their operation costs up and taking some of them off the road, and the council are not properly finding ways to reduce the costs by licencing Uber, we could see our taxi trade in a difficult situation in the coming months and years.
“As a city council we should be supporting them, but all we have done now is increase their operation costs and we will be putting some of them out of business as they will not be able to meet these requirements.
“This is very short-term, almost a headline grabbing response to the pollution problem. In no way does it attack the real problem which is particulates.”
When concerns over funding were made at a scrutiny meeting last December, the council’s director of regulatory services Andrew Walster said Coventry was providing an “extensive” financial package.
He said: “It is possibly one of the most generous packages in the country at the moment because of money we have put in.”
Council officer Shamala Evans added on Friday: “There are other packages available from a finance perspective.
“The cost of replacing it depends on the model and what upgrades you have.”
