By Richie Hancox
Drivers of London’s iconic black cabs are threatening to bring the capital to a standstill in response to new rules by Transport for London (TfL).
Cabbies say they will step up their current protest campaign to bring yet more traffic disruption.
Under the recently introduced regulations, all taxis registered after January 1st 2018 need to be electric or capable of producing zero emissions. Added to this is a new rule that vehicles older than 15 years must be retired from service with a proposed, phased reduction to 12 years by 2020.
These changes have already caused concern for London’s Licensed Taxi drivers with the purchase costs of the new Zero Emissions Capable, electric cab being around £65,000.
One cab driver, who did not wish to be named, spoke to the Holloway Express. He said, “There isn’t enough charging points for ZEC’s as it is without introducing more.”
TFL has committed to having 300 rapid charging points around London, with over 150 already available. The rapid charging points can charge a vehicle in 20-30 minutes which is significantly faster than a regular charging point that can take up to 7 hours. However, with over 20,000 licensed taxis there needs to be more work done.
He added, “The current Euro 6 engine in our new cab’s is the cleanest diesel engine already, we’ve just got those.”
Along with these new regulations there has been the added change in road regulations within the capital, aiming to make bus routes, car and taxi free. These rules are already in force at Bank Junction with taxis now banned and from March the same rules will apply to Tottenham Court Road.
In response to these changes, Black Cab drivers have been protesting for the last 10 weeks in a campaign of ‘Where busses go – Taxis go’ along with a petition that to date has received nearly 19,000 signatures.
Cab drivers that Holloway Express spoke to claimed that they were being pushed out by TFL and that the new rules were solely based on TFL aiming to increase revenue from its bus services.
TfL has released a statement saying all these changes are simply designed to improve the health of Londoners.
On the 08th April 2019 the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) came into force in central London. With a new charge of £12.50 in addition to the congestion charge of £11.50, it makes a trip into the area a total cost of £24.
The newly introduced ULEZ aims to combat air pollution in the capital and through phased regulation changes. However, the changes to London’s traffic regulations has been met with resistance.
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