Cambridge: Taxi drivers able to use standard hybrid cars

Cambridge City Council has agreed to relax its emission policy for taxi drivers

Taxi drivers will be able to use standard hybrid cars after a council agreed to relax its emission policy.

Cambridge City Council, which has been working to increase the uptake of ultra-low and zero-emission vehicles by taxi drivers, will allow hybrids with emissions of less than 120g/km of CO2.

A report to its licensing committee said these were becoming hard to buy and called for "flexibility" in the policy.

Taxi drivers have welcomed the move.

The change is due to be reviewed in 2024, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

In October 2016, the council committed to a goal of increasing the uptake of hybrid and electric vehicles to improve air quality in the city by reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

Under its current policy, vehicles classed as ultra-low emission include plug-in hybrid vehicles and extended range electric vehicles.

Zero emission vehicles include electric-only vehicles, and fuel cell vehicles, such as those which use hydrogen.

Vehicle cost 'doubled'

However, a council report said: "Due to Brexit and the pandemic and now with the crisis in Ukraine, the availability of such vehicles are becoming more difficult to obtain.

"There is also a waiting period of up to a year to purchase these types of vehicles and therefore there is a need to build in flexibility into the policy to allow standard hybrids with emissions of less than 120g/km of CO2."

Ahmed Karaahmed, chairman of the drivers' Cambridge City Licensed Taxis group, said the council's previous policy had "doubled the vehicle cost for taxi drivers" and welcomed the relaxation of restrictions on type of vehicle.

He said rising fuel prices and a loss of income during Covid restrictions, when "our vehicles were parked in front of out houses for over a year", had added to the trade's problems.

"I don't know how long the taxi trade can survive in these difficult conditions," he said.

But Mr Karaahmed also asked for the requirement for silver livery and the un-tinted window policy to be reviewed, because many electric vehicles are manufactured with tinted windows.

A council officer explained that the silver livery was previously agreed with the taxi trade to identify Hackney carriages in the city and would not be reviewed at the moment.