Taxi Driver Online

Nothing particularly new here, but looks like it's been debated in the Scottish Parliament

And, of course, the June deadline is fast approaching.

But even the transport minister's response is stuff that's been around for months now

But, of course, not much chance of any wider interest. I mean, papers full of stuff about what happened at Holyrood yesterday, but that's all about Nicola's final appearance at first minister's questions


LEZ will have 'devastating impact' on taxi trade warns Glasgow MSP

https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/234 ... asgow-msp/

THE Low Emissions Zone in Glasgow city centre will have a “devastating impact” on the taxi trade, an MSP has said in a debate in the Scottish Parliament.

Pauline McNeill, Glasgow Labour MSP, led a debate on the taxi industry and told MSPs that hundreds of drivers face a bill of tens of thousands of pounds or be forced out of business.

McNeill said their concerns about the scheme are being “ignored” and they were “neglected” during the pandemic.

The LEZ is due to start in June this year where older vehicles will not be allowed to enter the city centre as they will not be compliant with the emissions rules.

The MSP said: “As we know, around 1,000 cabs out of the fleet of 1,420 are not Euro 6 compliant.

“In other words, there are 1,000 taxi drivers who, at the moment, would not be able to enter the LEZ in Glasgow.

“One can already begin to see the extent of the problem.

“Although 200 cabs have been given an extra 12 months, people in the rest of the taxi sector have been left to find thousands of pounds that they simply do not have during a cost of living crisis.”

McNeill highlighted the importance of taxis to Glasgow’s transport system and economy.

She explained how late night workers rely on taxis to get home after a shift and women, people with disabilities and vulnerable people at night get an “important service” from the drivers.

The MSP added: “It’s time we recognised the importance of the taxi industry and give it the support it needs and deserves, we need to stop the exodus of drivers leaving the profession because of cost of staying in business and impending regulation that is pushing them out of the sector. The world we live in now requires a strong taxi service.”

Jenny Gilruth, Transport Minister said she agreed taxi drivers are “vital to the economy” and accepted that the pandemic was “challenging” for them.

On extensions and exemptions for the LEZ the minister added: “It is, of course, for Glasgow City Council to outline its position, but I recognise that taxi operators and the unions have been engaging with the local authority.

“Very recently, Glasgow has confirmed that there will be an additional year for drivers whose taxis cannot be retrofitted, and the position for others is simply a requirement to demonstrate that they have signed up to the process of applying for funding.”

Hope they are using the correct pronouns.

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IDFIMH

So what is going to happen to those 1,000 cabs?

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IDFIMH

if theyre not euro 6 compliant theyll be put off the road

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i started out with nothing and ive still got most of it left

At least three different articles on a council meeting and trade protest:


'Chaos will ensue'; council rejects bid to delay LEZ by another year

https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/234 ... ther-year/


Image: Colin Mearns/Glasgow Evening Times

Taxi drivers took their cabs to the City Chambers to protest over the Low Emission Zone due to be introduced this summer.

Dozens parked up outside in George Square demanding the scheme be delayed stating it will force hundreds out of business.

The drivers protested before a bid to delay the LEZ was rejected by the council.

SNP and Green councillors voted down a Conservative, and Labour amended, motion to delay the LEZ by one year.

Drivers said the outcome will be “chaos”.

Steven Grant, branch secretary, of Unite the union cab section, said the simplest outcome would have been to delay by one year.

He said the council has given a verbal assurance that if drivers register to retrofit they will have a one-year exemption.

However, he said until that is in writing and in practice it is not certain, adding: “We don’t trust the information coming out.”

He said: “It won’t be until it comes in, they will see the chaos that will ensue.”

He added for some vehicles retrofitting is not justified because of the lifespan of the technology.

He said there will be cabs lost in June.


Image: Colin Mearns/Glasgow Evening Times

The drivers’ rep said there are issues with retrofitting stating there is only one firm doing the work, and they said it will take two years to get through the 60 orders on their books.

Inside the council chambers, there was an at times angry debate with SNP and Green councillors accusing Labour and Tories of spreading misinformation.

While Tory and Labour members, calling for a delay, asked 'if there was no problem why were dozens of drivers outside protesting?'

Taxi driver Joe McGeough, 66, has driven a cab for more than 30 years.


Image: Colin Mearns/Glasgow Evening Times

He said: “Nobody is against the LEZ. It is the timing.

“We had two years of the pandemic, then trying to get back on our feet then hit with the cost of living crisis.”

He added: “It is a fanatical agenda they have, and it will put us out of business.”

Fellow driver, William Anderson, said: “We can’t buy a new taxi just for a couple of years, because finance firms won’t touch us.”

Conservative councillor, John Daly, had his bid to delay the scheme defeated by the SNP and Greens.

He said: “Scotland's other LEZs are not due to start enforcement until June 1, 2024 and May 30, 2024 in Dundee.

“And reflecting the significant challenges facing many small and medium businesses at the moment, it would be prudent to align the full enforcement of Glasgow's LEZ with these other schemes.”

He added: “The full enforcement of Phase 2 should be delayed until 1st June 2024.”

Labour Councillor Jill Pidgeon, said: “ The LEZ is an important and necessary measure.”

However, she added funding for taxis has not been sufficient and said it should be delayed until June 2024.

Susan Aitken, SNP council leader, said: “Guidance is being issued. No taxi driver who has started the process of applying will be forced off the road on June 1.”

Angus Millar SNP councillor and transport convenor, said: “The introduction of a Low Emission Zone is an urgent public health intervention required to address Glasgow’s longstanding air pollution crisis.”

He said operators who can prove they don’t have access to a funded retrofitted solution have until June 2024.

Another source includes this, which is quite interesting:


Final quote there is a nonsense figure - whatever kind of vehicles he's referring to, it's not taxis. It's an apple and pears comparison figure.

And further up the council leader dismissed the claim about the number of vehicles that would be lost by saying it's just opinion rather than fact. So what's their projected number? The 90% at the bottom?

More probably they don't even have a figure, and they're not interested. In fact, probably the more they get off the road the better

Another source includes the full motion:


So if Unite's 1,000 jobs figure is 'unresearched' and 'inaccurate', what's the council's own figure? Answer, presumably, is that they don't even have a figure

It's fair to assume that a significant number of owners up there are getting on a bit, is it really fair to expect them to stump up £60-70,000 having just had two years of earning SFA?

Those councillors are definantly letting ideology take precedence over common sense.

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IDFIMH

The whole of the UK is going to hell on a green handcart pushed by ideological neurotic green councillors.

Over 250 Glasgow taxi drivers ask for LEZ exemption ahead of enforcement

Over 250 bids for exemptions from Glasgow’s low emission zone (LEZ) have been submitted by taxi drivers, as the council insists no operators should need to stop working in June.

Enforcement of phase two of the LEZ will begin on June 1 when private cars and taxis will need to meet the required emissions standards — and unions had warned drivers could be forced off the road.

‘White lists’ are currently being compiled to identify who is exempt from the rules, such as emergency services.

Councillors agreed last year that ‘time-limited exemptions’ would be available for taxi operators, allowing drivers without funding support to avoid enforcement until June 1, 2024.

Taxi drivers must show they have applied for a temporary exemption and that they either do not have access to a funded retrofit solution or have applied for, or submitted an expression of interest in, securing funding but are waiting for confirmation of funding/work beginning.

A council spokeswoman said: “The public hire taxi exemption application process was published on the LEZ website at the end of last month. To date we have received 252 applications.

“Council officers will process applications in a timely manner and take a pragmatic and flexible approach in consideration of applications.

“With the application process now open, no public hire taxi should be unable to continue operating in June as a result of the LEZ, with flexibility up until June 2024 provided to support the transition to compliance.”

There are currently 1,391 public hire taxis operating in Glasgow.

After the application process went live, Unite Glasgow Cab Section said the “key criterion we fought for was an exemption based on simply registering an interest in a retrofit solution”.

“That does not mean that you have to have made an application to retrofit, just that you have shown an interest.”

Preparation for the start of enforcement is ongoing, with installation of cameras and testing still required. There will also be “extensive communications” in the run-up to June 1.

A council official said: “There are national white lists which have to be compiled, so that is, for example, the emergency services will provide relevant white lists to incorporate into our systems.

“We are compiling the taxi white lists but there will be other white lists we must apply as well, such as blue badge holders, coming from a range of different sources, either held centrally by Glasgow City Council or by Transport Scotland.

“As the vehicle goes past [the camera] and their registration number is checked, it’s automatically checked against this white list.”

He said enforcement would be “very much along the same lines” as the process for bus lanes in the city. “The LEZ will check to make sure the vehicle is compliant with the LEZ emission standards. If it isn’t, that triggers the automatic process and that does undergo a manual review.”

An operator will carry out the review before fines are issued. Fines will be set at £60 for initial entry, reduced to £30 if paid within the first 14 days.

Penalty notices will then double for each subsequent entry into the LEZ, but are capped at £480 for cars and light good vehicles and £960 for buses and HGVs.

The council official said: “When it comes to escalation, we are not proposing to impose the surcharges on the penalty charge until such a time as the person has received that first notification.”

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IDFIMH

If I understand this correctly , if you have a non-compliant taxi but have no intention of replacing it then you can only get a one-year exemption if you've applied for but can't get a retrofit option?

So it's a kind of Catch 22 if you don't want to upgrade but want an extra year out of the cab. If you want the extra year but don't want the retrofit you have to apply for the retrofit and hope it's deemed ineligible for the retrofit for whatever reason?

Thus you'd have to apply for a retrofit and hope you're knocked back. Or if you're eligible for a retrofit then you would just not go ahead with it, so you wouldn't get the extra year

So it's a bit of a paradox as regards emissions. If you've no intention of upgrading then the worst of the cabs will get the extra year, but the ones which aren't so bad (and are thus eligible for retrofitting) won't get the extra year

Anyway, don't think the council's official page on applying for the one year exemption was posted on here, so this is it:


Taxi operators' LEZ exemptions open for applications

https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=30107

Taxi operators with vehicles that won't comply with Glasgow's forthcoming Low Emission Zone are being urged to take advantage of exemptions that provide flexibility for operators up until June 1, 2024.

Glasgow's LEZ is due to come into effect on June 1 this year when vehicles that do not meet the zone's emissions standards will face enforcement action. The time-limited exemptions for non-compliant taxis were agreed by the council's City Administration Committee last year, and allow extra time for operators who do not yet meet the zone's requirements.

Taxi operators will need to apply for the temporary exemption and show they either do not have access to a funded retrofit solution or that they have applied for or submitted an expression of interest in securing retrofit funding,but are waiting for the necessary upgrades to be undertaken.

Around £3million of retrofit funding has been made available by the Scottish Government to date to support taxi operators to transition to LEZ compliance.

Applications for exemptions should be submitted by May 31 this year in time for LEZ enforcement beginning in June. Councillor Angus Millar, City Convener for Transport and Climate is calling upon those with non-compliant taxis to move quickly to apply for relevant time-limited LEZ exemptions.

Councillor Millar believes this is an equitable approach to ensuring a crucial measure for tackling city centre air quality goes ahead while also meeting the concerns of the taxi trade.

He said: "At every step we have supported the shift to LEZ compliance by encouraging eligible operators to take advantage of available funding for clean, new vehicles or for retrofitting existing vehicles.

"But we recognise that for some taxis retrofit is not an option or there can be delays to retrofit work being undertaken. Granting temporary exemptions to give more time to achieve compliance with a vital public health measure is a practical way to support the taxi sector as we move towards enforcement of Glasgow's LEZ.

"With the LEZ going live in June, it's crucial that any taxi operator whose vehicle does not yet meet the standards of the LEZ moves quickly to secure access to the time-limited exemptions provided for.

"With the application process that is now open, no public hire taxi should be off the road this June as a result of the LEZ, with flexibility up until June 2024 provided to support the transition to compliance."

The first phase of Glasgow's Low Emission Zone began in 2018 with the introduction of measures that encouraged a shift to cleaner, low and zero emission buses travelling through the city centre and elsewhere in Glasgow.

From June 1 this year, the LEZ will operate 24 hours a day, all year round and apply to all vehicles, covering an area that is bounded by the M8 to the north and west of the city centre, the River Clyde to the south and the High Street and Saltmarket to the east. The zone will be enforced through the use of automatic number plate recognition cameras.

In general terms diesel vehicles registered after September 2015, petrol vehicles registered from 2006 onwards and buses, coaches and HGVS registered from January 2013 will meet the required LEZ standards, although drivers are advised to check with their vehicle manual or the manufacturer for confirmation.

Exemptions also exist for vehicles driven by disabled people, emergency vehicles, armed forces vehicles, historic vehicles and showman's vehicles as well as motorcycles and mopeds. Those living within the LEZ boundary have additional time to prepare, with the enforcement start date for vehicles registered to a residential address within the zone, commencing on 1 June 2024.

Full details on how to apply for the LEZ taxi exemption are available through this link.