Taxi Driver Online

I take it this is the Euro6 requirement for diesels again? Wish they'd specifically say that instead of all the waffle about needing a *new* car if the current one is more than 5-years-old.

They'd need a Euro6 compliant diesel. Ends.


Bolton Taxi drivers launch fresh protest against minimum licensing standards

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/20 ... standards/


Image: The Bolton News

TAXI drivers staged a protest outside Bolton Town Hall as Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and leaders of other authorities were due to visit.

Bolton's cab drivers were demonstrating at new proposals which could seen a ban on cars more than five-years-old under plans to introduce minimum licensing standards - which would affect taxi drivers across Greater Manchester.

Minimum Licensing Standards car age rule could mean 'real financial hit' for Bolton taxi drivers

Under the plans taxi drivers would have to get a new vehicle if their car is more than five years old.

Speaking at the protest, Yasif Khan, the secretary of the Bolton Private Hire Association, explained his objections to the move.

He said: “It is stage two of the minimum licensing we are concerned about and the ban on the five years old cars.

“Basically they are telling us to go and buy a car, that will be about £15,000 to £20,000.

“The average age of a lot of our vehicles is 15 years old.

“There is never any problems even for those that are 15 years old.

“We go and get two MOTs every years.

“The council set the MOT garages we go to.

“There are only three.

“They say that the vehicles are road worthy.”


Image: The Bolton News

He added that drivers would have to get a £15,000 loan to get a new vehicle if plans were approved, and this could lead to a doubling of fares.

Mr Khan said this would have a bad effect on night clubs and restaurants and elderly people who needed trips to hospitals which only the taxi drivers could provide.

Promises of public consultation on revised Clean Air Zone plans this summer

He added: “If Andy Burnham was here I would say if it isn’t broken then don’t fix it.”

The protest was also against Clean Air Zone plans.Those plans are currently under review and the public have been promised a say in them.

Mr Burnham did not attend at Bolton Town Hall as expected.




Images: The Bolton News

Statement simply doesn't make sense.

Like saying that on average some taxi drivers live in £1million houses. Which is literally true, but problem is the vast majority of taxi drivers don't live in £1million houses.


Where can I buy one of these magical 15-year-old cars?


Somehow can't see that happening

I'm generally in agreement about how these CAZ and ULEZ things are being implemented far too quickly, but not sure if all this kind of waffle helps make that case.

I very much doubt that.

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IDFIMH

I have had an exchange of many emails with Manchester Licensing on this very issue.
What Greater Manchester Councils are trying to bring in is what they call '' Minimum Licensing Standards''.. meaning all 10 boroughs of GM will have to adhere to the rules and regulations being brought in.
In practice it will Never work as the 10 boroughs are very different in many ways. Some areas are very wealthy and others not. Manchester covers the airport as well as 3 major railway stations which have a lot of people passing through daily.
Other areas have sparse traffic and little work.
Trafford have Man United ground which is extremely busy on match days and other events. Same for the Cricket ground nearby.
Places like Bolton are at the bottom end of the scale.
How on earth will some of these outlying area drivers be able to afford the vehicles councils are demanding ?
I believe that a couple of these poor areas have had owners returning their taxi licences back to the issuing councils as there is a shortage of ''Drivers''. New ones all seem to be joining uber and many are delivering parcels for likes of amazon.
So, Manchester city council state that a Euro 5 compliant vehicle can be licenced for 14/15 years. A vehicle first registered in 2015 will therefore be allowed to work till 2029 but no...It is not a Euro6 vehicle so will need to be replaced before 2024.
So, how will this work for owners of these euro 5 vehicles ?

I've never met one !

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

Now it’s funny you should say that.

Of course, I’m now a civilian, after 37 years as a Taxi owner driver. In that time I owned seven different vehicles, two saloons, three metrocabs, one E7, and a TX2. Quite a variety, some brand new, some second hand, some absolute dogs, (fiat punto) but the best of the bunch? Without a shadow of a doubt, the winner was…

…a 2006 TX2. Bought in September 2020 out of London, with 320,000 miles on the clock, for £1,200 I know! Drove it back to Lincoln, took it for a council test, which it passed with flying colours.
It came with a (genuine) ulez certificate, and the tester couldn’t find fault with it, emissions were well within requirements, and our (enlightened) council had no problem with licensing it. I owned it for 18 months, and it passed three council tests in that time, without any problems. In that time I put on a new battery, new tyres, and changed the headlamps. A real beauty. She retired me, unlike the other six I owned. A real testament to the case for licensing older vehicles if they are properly maintained.
So it’s my view that age limits purely on age, are an anachronism.

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Former taxi driver

Indeed, but the council isn't necessarily concentrating on age, they are concentrating on emissions, which do have an age factor.

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IDFIMH

Exactly!!

It's about buying a vehicle that is firstly well made (manufactured to a high standard) and if used well maintained.

But the councils want to over regulate and have "emission standards" and other nonsense.

Let's apply a bit of common sense and rationality.

Would you rather buy a new vehicle at £20,000 to £25,000 (without interest and fees if on finance) or a few thousand pounds for a 15 or 20 year old car with low or high mileage?

If you have business acumen you would choose the latter. Also, by bringing in these new rules many older road worthy vehicles will be scrapped that otherwise could still be used for the job so asset utilisation is not being capitalised on with unnecessary wastage the consequence of these crazy policies.

How does that help emissions? Have you seen the figures for emissions on producing new vehicles? Moreover, have you seen them for "green" electric vehicles?

How is forcing people to buy newer vehicles helping the environment with less "emissions" when they can save emissions by keeping their current vehicle until its lifespan has reached the end of its usefulness?

In the future, many licensed drivers will not be able to take advantage of the opportunity you had by extending your time in the industry by an extra year or so.

Now I don't want to come across as attacking people who buy new vehicles for taxiing. I can understand the reasoning in some cases such as pride and professionalism and others who do executive work etc.

However, the councils are taking the freedom to choose away from people who want to buy an older vehicle for various reasons such as lack of capital, seeking higher profit margins and a more favourable risk to reward ratio for doing business.

In the end this will force many licensed drivers away from the trade and minimise future potential licensed drivers who will be put off by the excessive costs of getting started.

It was already a difficult industry to get into prior to all of this madness due to the long waiting times for receiving your licence etc.