Taxi drivers lose bid to delay zero emissions policy in Cambridge

An effort by Cambridge taxi drivers to further delay the introduction of a policy requiring their next vehicle to be an electric car or ultra-low emission vehicle has been rebuffed.

City councillors heard from one taxi driver that he often ends up earning below the minimum wage working in the city.

Mohammed Irfan said he was struggling to keep up with “rocketing living costs”.

Others also shared the financial challenges they faced, warning taxi drivers could be “priced out” of the city.

A licensing policy change covering their vehicles would make their situations harder, they said. But councillors decided to push ahead as its implementation has already been delayed by two years.

The council agreed in 2018 that from April 2020 all new saloon taxis licenced by the authority needed to be zero or ultra-low emission vehicles.

Existing drivers were told they be required to switch over when their current car came to the end of its taxi lifespan.

Due to issues around the availability of ultra-low emission and electric cars, the council agreed in 2022 to delay the implementation of the new policy for existing drivers for two years. There is an exception to the new rule for wheelchair accessible taxis.

The age limit for taxis is 11 years.

The council reviewed and confirmed the policy earlier this year.

But councillors at a licensing committee meeting on Monday (June 24) were urged to review it again.

Mr Ifran said his current self-charging hybrid car was “reliable and cost effective”.

He said: “Over the last few years for most months my income has averaged below the minimum wage, so it’s been a real struggle to keep up with rocketing living costs and increased costs on debts and my mortgage as more bills pile up.

“I understand the council’s goal to improve emissions in the city. Being someone who does worry about climate change and the impact it’s already having, especially on developing countries, I accept we all have some responsibility to minimise the factors causing the devastation to our planet and the threat to our future generations as well as the other species we share our planet with.

“But I believe the current decision not to extend standard hybrids won’t make much difference to Cambridge’s air quality.”

Another taxi driver, Cihan Bashan, said he lives in a flat and would have to rely on “pretty expensive public charging stations” if he had to switch from a plug-in hybrid to a fully electric car. He said this policy presented an “enormous financial burden” for him when he said he was still recovering from the damage caused by the pandemic.

One taxi driver said he would consider handing back his plates to the city council and becoming a licensed taxi driver at another authority.

Officers said drivers have known about the change since 2020, and noted that the council had agreed to delay fully implementing the change for existing drivers for two years.

A further delay was push back the date the city’s taxi fleet would be ultra-low emission or fully electric to around 2037, they said.

Cllr Rosy Moore (Lab, Coleridge) said the council had declared a climate emergency and members of the public had urged them not backtrack on that.

She noted that only Hackney carriage taxis licensed by the council were allowed to use the city centre taxi ranks, adding that if drivers from other areas were using them, members of the public should contact the city council.

A majority of councillors on the committee voted to keep the policy change.