Taxi Driver Online

Taxi fears over new rules for car emissions

Almost 1,100 taxis in Wakefield - around 90 per cent of the entire fleet - face being taken off the city’s roads after councillors agreed to toughen up on emission levels. Wakefield Council’s licensing committee has agreed that all diesel cabs must come under the lowest pollutant category available - known as the Euro Six standard - for which only vehicles manufactured after September 2016 will qualify.

With diesels making up 1,158 of the 1,228 licensed cars and minibuses operating, the majority are already older than two years and would not be permitted to operate from the city. Five other cities in the UK, including Leeds, are being forced to introduce congestion charges and Euro Six standards to combat high levels of pollution.

However, Wakefield is not included, and the Wakefield District Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Association, which represents drivers, is questioning why such standards are being implemented so soon. They fear huge numbers of drivers will simply quit, with others forced to hike up passenger fares to cover costs. In what the association has described as a ‘double whammy’, the drivers are also facing a 60 per cent hike for a three-year licensing badge, which has risen from £231 to £384 for private hire vehicles.

Wajid Ali, co-chairman for the group said: “We want a better phasing-in period, that would be common sense, but the council has ignored it. “There’s probably going to be a good 45 or 50 per cent of driver who will be pushed out completely because they can’t afford it. They have families to feed and mortgages to pay. “We want to go green, it’s the future, but at what cost?” And if the emission standards weren’t enough, the badge costs will drive us out.”

The association suggested that a Euro Five standard - which covers diesels cars manufactured after 2009 - would be a more sensible solution. Some drivers could head to neighbouring districts to be licensed, although many see this as being bad for the trade. This would also mean that Wakefield Council loses hundreds of thousands of pounds through licensing fees.

Wakefield Council says the decisions were made following a public consultation and that drivers will have a two-year grace period to make the necessary changes.

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IDFIMH

Euro 6 came in in Sept 2015.

All the major manufacturers would have know that for many years before, so in effect most, if not all diesels were Euro 6 in 2014.

I'm guessing Wakefield's policy is Euro 6 on renewal, so unless you want to put on a 4/5 year old car it isn't going to affect you.

In short stop moaning and consider your lungs, your families lungs and your punters lungs.

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IDFIMH

Was Euro 6 part of the emissions scandal which still has not been fully explained or is it another case of the government sweeping it under the carpet as it would affect their rich friends.

I wonder if the councils own fleet of vehicles and plant will meet the same standard?

another THICK COUNCIL

car emissions can be reduced by other means such as fitting of fuel cells that inject additional hydrogen and oxygen into the engine reducing emissions (as on display at last years taxi show) or the use of cleaner alternative fuels such as DME or retrofitting urea injection into the exhaust.

Insisting people just buy the latest engine is daft many euro 6 engines are just over stressed small engines which deteriorate quickly and so only deliver cleaner emissions for a limited time

a much better idea would be to decree that all vehicles have emission improvement technology fitted over say an 18 month period that would be a far better and far more effective

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

I feel all this high and mighty behaviour by councils is however unnecessary. Despite liking the idea of breathing fresher air.

Just leave things be and taxi/PH will naturally have cleaner engines as older cars are replaced by newer cleaner cars.

It's not really rocket science.

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IDFIMH

Must be some serious emissions from rockets.

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Chris The Fish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdlyi5mc ... re=related

None at all, just water vapour.

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Former taxi driver

depends on what the fuel is many commercial rockets use kerosene which produces loads of Nox and CO2

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

Same as planes.Polluters of the skies

Whilst I wouldn't be worried about the rule, because I like buying new cars, this is again the council needing to beat someone so they choose our trade rather than buses or Amazon delivery sheds.

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A member of the Hire or Reward Industry