Plan to cap age of Oxford taxis wins backingPLANS to introduce an age limit for taxis and private hire vehicles in Oxford have been backed.
The city council’s general purposes licensing committee last night endorsed a proposal to introduce rules that mean drivers will have to replace cars after 10 or 12 years, depending on what type they drive.
Currently, new licences are not issued to anyone driving a car more than five years old, but there is currently no limit on the age of cars driven by existing licence holders.
If approved by the council, the plans will mean private hire vehicles will have to be replaced when they are 10 years old, and black cabs will have to be replaced once they are 12 years old.
The new policy comes after the council consulted on plans to set the age limits at three years for new licences and five years for renewals, but the proposal proved so unpopular that it was scrapped, as was a plan for limits of five and eight years.
Drivers have raised fears about the impact the new policy could have on their businesses as many of them would be forced to buy new vehicles.
Committee chairman Colin Cook said he felt the new plans were a compromise.
He said: “I think it strikes a balance between the need for us to achieve continual improvement in our offer but also being mindful of the financial constraints on the drivers and operators.”
The proposals will now be put to the council’s executive at a meeting on Wednesday at 5pm at the Town Hall.
The final decision on the rules will be made at a full council meeting on September 30.
http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/106584 ... s_backing/
Login
Register
FAQ
