TAXI DRIVERS REMINDED THAT NEW EMISSION REGULATIONS ARE JUST AROUND THE CORNER
28 February 2006 - Transport for London

The air quality in London is currently amongst the worst in Europe according to Transport for London and they are proposing to designate Greater London as a low emission zone.

A public consultation period regarding these proposals is now underway.

This move is aimed at moving London closer to meeting national and EU air quality objectives for 2010. The main transport targets are older diesel engined lorries, buses and coaches but cars are not included.

However London Taxis have already been targeted to meet new exhaust emission regulations and there are over 21,000 of them on London’s streets.

From July this year the process to eventually get all older taxis in London to meet the stricter Euro III regulations gets underway. Around 10,000 taxis, which are pre-Euro or Euro I, must meet the new emission standard as they are presented for the annual test between July 2006 and June 2007. In the region of 6,000 Euro II taxis must also meet the new standards as they are presented for their tests between July 2007 and June 2008. Any not meeting the Euro III regulations will be removed from service.

Meeting the new emission levels can be done with the fitment of control devices to the taxi’s exhaust system. Trials for these conversion kits are still ongoing and results as to effectiveness and reliability have yet to be published by the licensing authority.

This week, LTI Vehicles, manufacturers of the London Taxi, issued a reminder that the new emission test deadline was fast approaching and drivers of older Fairway and TX1 taxis must address the issue. Although this applies to London other cities in the UK are expected to follow the Capital’s lead.

Matthew Cheyne, Sales and Marketing Director for LTI said, “Despite the fast approaching deadline, thousands of drivers have yet to decide what to do and I urge them to act now to avoid costly problems in the future.”

“Drivers in other parts of the country also need to take action as the London regulations are expected to be quickly rolled out in other areas of the UK. “

Cheyne added, “This is not an issue that is going to go away.”

“Older taxis like the Fairway and the TX1 will not meet the regulations unless they are fitted with the exhaust conversion kits. The TXII, the current version of the black cab which has been around for four years, does.”

“It makes more long term financial sense for drivers of older type taxis to buy a new or used TXII model rather than fit an exhaust conversion kit to their existing vehicle. Drivers can protect the residual values of their taxis by buying a Euro III compliant vehicle as soon as possible which will mean they get the best return on their investment.”

TX1 taxis were first produced in 1997 and these were replaced by the TXII in 2002. These vehicles were more environmentally friendly and had extra improvements for passenger and driver comfort.

Cheyne added, “The latest version of our TXII taxi, introduced last September, now has an improved suspension system giving a better ride for both driver and passenger. They are recognised as being the safest purpose-built, fully wheelchair-accessible cabs ever.”

“Whether taxi drivers choose to buy a brand new London style taxi or a used Euro III compliant one, I strongly suggest that they must do something soon.”

From Miles Better News Agency

www.tfl.gov.uk

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