Taxi Driver Online

Taxi drivers fuming as cabs face scrapheap over emissions target

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/ ... -1-4770741

NEARLY half of Edinburgh’s taxis are to be forced from the road in a massive emissions cull, the Evening News can reveal.

All black cabs older than ten years will need to be replaced by 2020 under a new Edinburgh City Council policy, accounting for 616 vehicles of a fleet of 1316.

Drivers have slammed the council plans to meet EU guidelines as rushed and poorly researched, with many likely to have to quit the trade as it faces a £20 million upgrade bill.

“We want to be part of the solution on air quality and we should be getting support from the council,” Edinburgh Taxi Association chairman Mark McNally said.

“But we feel that we’ve been singled out as a group and the benefits are insignificant. We feel let down in being asked to jump through hoops. It’s unacceptable.

”With drivers facing forking out up to £62,000 for a top-of-the-range new taxi, representatives fear for their futures.

“Some of these guys are 55 or 60-plus and they won’t be given finance to renew these vehicles,” Mr McNally said.

He maintained the taxi trade was committed to helping improve air quality in the city, but that measures have been adopted way ahead of other initiatives, including low emission zones.

“We find ourselves singled out with no evidence to show what impact this will have on improving air quality,” he said.

Although many drivers still use cars more than ten years old, Mr McNally assured these were still viable vehicles.

“Some of these guys keep older vehicles on the road relatively cheaply, but they have to pass the same tests as a brand new car,” he said.

“If it doesn’t pass, then it’s taken off the road.”

The Edinburgh Taxi Association polled its 500 members and four in five said they would find it difficult to continue in the trade in light of the new fleet requirements.

New age restrictions on taxis come into effect in April next year, though drivers get a year’s leeway if their car’s licence expires in 2020.

Patrick Gallagher, 44, from Moredun, has been a cabbie in Edinburgh for a decade and drives a 12-year-old model.

“I found out in March it had to be off the road next April – 13 months’ notice, whereas in London they got five years’ notice,” Mr Gallagher said.

“There are guys in their 50s and 60s taking part-time work because they can’t afford 50, 60 or 70 grand on a new taxi. After April, they might not have jobs and who’s going to employ them at that age?

Council-owned Lothian Buses got £800m from the government [to meet emissions targets]. Taxi drivers get no help.”

A council spokeswoman said drivers were consulted since June 2016, leading to tweaked plans, including dropping the age limit of cars from five years to ten.

Proposals were drawn up to bring the Capital in line with most other UK cities.

“The council is responding to growing public concern about the impact of air pollution on their health by introducing a range of measures to ensure people can breathe clean air in the city,” the spokesman said.

Edinburgh is fast becoming a greedy Green hell of a city, I no longer recommend my clients to go visit it as they are ripped off in every way imaginable, I'll suggest Newcastle as a city of interest to visit over Edinburgh.

Do the drivers have to purchase brand new vehicles in Edinburgh?

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Grandad,

NEARLY half of Edinburgh’s taxis are to be forced from the road in a massive emissions cull, the Evening News can reveal.

All black cabs older than ten years will need to be replaced by 2020 under a new Edinburgh City Council policy, accounting for 616 vehicles of a fleet of 1316.

and there was me thinking only Blackpool ran cabs that old

we CANNOT run a vehicle beyond 10 years it has to be taken off the road on the 10th anniversary of it first being registered although we don't have to have WAV's

This is going to be a problem up and down the country as councils force our trade down the electric/hybrid route

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

Council braced for taxi licensing appeals over new emissions rule

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/ ... -1-4774597

Furious taxi drivers are set to hit Edinburgh City Council with a raft of licensing appeals over “practical difficulties” of drivers meeting its new emissions policy, city officials have admitted.

Since May, the city council’s no emissions policy states that no taxi or private hire car will be acceptable unless it meets Euro 5 or 6 standards. Vehicles more than a decade old are also set to be refused a licence.

A taxi driver has been given a reprieve for a year after she splashed out more than £4,000 on a vehicle before receiving a letter informing her of a change in policy by the City of Edinburgh Council. The vehicle is believed to only meet Euro 3 standards.

Linda Jarvis bought her TX1 London black taxi at the beginning of May and was charged for the vehicle to be tested by council officials. But when the back cab was presented for testing, Mrs Jarvis was told it couldn’t be completed because the council had changed its policy. Mrs Jarvis did not receive a letter from the council about the change in policy until May 23 or 24.

Jonny Nisbet, representing Ms Jarvis, said: “Our client was, through a lack of notice of the changes in policy and conditions, led into considering there to be no issue with the licensing of the taxi which she purchased. Our client has acted in good faith and to her considerable cost.”

Regulatory services manager Andrew Mitchell, said: “This is the first of what I suspect will be a number of similar applications the committee will have to decide on over the coming months.

“One of the concerns was there had been a certain shift where existing operators were selling off old vehicles and drivers were paying to bring them up to standards – so members agreed to a cut-off.”

“This person had bought a taxi that would have been acceptable but because of the new policy, is now not acceptable. There will be some cases where people were just not aware."

A council spokeswoman said: “Following agreement by members of the Licensing Sub-Committee to amend the licensing conditions with regard to the age and emissions standards of taxis and private hire cars, it was further agreed to allow applicants who are severely impacted by the change to apply for an exemption to the policy.

“As was the situation on Thursday, this decision is made on a case by case basis.”

Someone in the comments section smells a rat