Cambridge cabbies have shared concerns that a licensing policy change put in place by Cambridge City Council could make their situations harder.
Cambridge News reports that they called for the city council to further delay its policy change that would require them to buy a ultra-low emission or electric car when they needed to replace their existing taxis.
However, the city council highlighted that the taxi drivers had known about the policy change for four years, and that the implementation had already been delayed for two years.
Back in 2018 the city council agreed a policy change that from April 2020 all new saloon taxis licensed by the authority needed to be zero or ultra-low emission.
Under this change a phased approach was planned for existing drivers to switch over to zero or ultra-low emission vehicles when their current car came to the end of its taxi lifespan.
The city council said this policy change did not apply to wheelchair accessible taxis.
However, due to issues around the availability of ultra-low emission and electric cars, the city council agreed in 2022 to delay the implementation of the new policy for existing drivers for two years.
The council reviewed the policy earlier this year and confirmed the change. However, many drivers called for this policy to be reviewed again, highlighting the financial struggles they are facing.
Concerns were also raised that some taxi drivers could be “priced out” of Cambridge if they faced even higher costs to operate in the city.
One taxi driver said they would consider handing back their plates to the city council and becoming a licensed taxi driver at another authority if the policy change was not delayed.
Councillors considered the taxi drivers concerns at a licensing committee meeting on Monday 24 June.
They added that if a further delay was agreed it would push back the date the city’s taxi fleet would be ultra-low emission or fully electric to around 2037.
Councillor Rosy Moore highlighted that the city council had declared a climate emergency and told the meeting that they had also received calls from some members of the public in the past not to not back track on the policy.
She also said only hackney carriages licensed by the city council were allowed to use the city centre taxi ranks.
Cllr Moore added that if drivers from other areas were using these ranks she asked for people to contact the city council so it could take action.
A majority of councillors on the committee ultimately voted in favour of keeping the policy change.
Source: https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/cambridge-taxi-driver-says-often-29412942
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