Cabbies fear upgrade of fleet will drive them off the road

Published on Wednesday 24 June 2009 10:22

TAXI drivers in West Lothian say they are at risk of being driven out of business by new plans to upgrade the fleet.

The council's executive committee has pushed through legislation for 14 specific vehicle types to be used as taxis on county roads in future, but only four of these vehicles omit levels of CO2 under the recommended 200g per kilometre.

This would see a rise in emissions of between 30 and 40 per cent in West Lothian, according to a report by East Central Scotland Vehicle Emissions Partnership submitted to the council.

Chairman of West Lothian Taxi Owners' Association, Billy Hewitt, is also angry that the new legislation will force many drivers out of the business due to costs.

He said: "It will cost anything from 20,000 to 30,000 for drivers to buy these new vehicles and make the appropriate alterations, and this is at a time when the industry is on it knees during this recession.

"The higher emissions cars will also increase monthly out-goings like fuel and finance deals for drivers and it won't be feasible for drivers nearing the end of their careers to buy new vehicles."

The committee has also ignored the advice of its own emissions officers who voted against using ten of the new vehicles.

But West Lothian Council says it has to upgrade its fleet of 167 licensed taxis to fall in line with new Scottish Government guidelines to make all cars wheelchair accessible for disabled people with side-loading vehicles.

The independent emissions report states that 62 per cent of asthma sufferers say traffic fumes leave them breathless and air pollution could be responsible for reducing life expectancy for up to two years.

A spokesman for the council said: "We have carried out extensive consultation with the taxi trade on the new changes which will drastically improve the service for disabled people.

"The taxi trade voted in favour of three of the 14 vehicles on the approved list and it will be a matter for the taxi trade to consider whether they want to opt for one of the lower emission level vehicles on the list or a higher emission vehicle.

"Although the emission levels from the approved list of taxis are expected to rise over the next few years, as these vehicles are gradually introduced the rise in emission levels will be likely to be offset by a decrease in the emission levels from the larger private hire fleet, which will be reviewed shortly.

"Many of the 14 vehicles on the approved list are already operating in West Lothian as private hire cars."