Black taxis go green with government investment

A US$30 million fund will be made available to local authorities to support the rollout of ultra-low emission taxis across the UK. The money will be available to reduce the upfront cost of purpose built taxis and to install charging infrastructure for taxi and private hire use. A further US$37 million has been set aside specifically for the Greater London Area to help taxi drivers cover the cost of upgrading to a greener vehicle. All taxis will also qualify for the government’s plug-in car grant, whi
April 2, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
A US$30 million fund will be made available to local authorities to support the rollout of ultra-low emission taxis across the UK. The money will be available to reduce the upfront cost of purpose built taxis and to install charging infrastructure for taxi and private hire use.

A further US$37 million has been set aside specifically for the Greater London Area to help taxi drivers cover the cost of upgrading to a greener vehicle.

All taxis will also qualify for the government’s plug-in car grant, which currently offers up to US$7,400 off the cost of an eligible low emission vehicle.

Local authorities are invited to bid for feasibility studies to prepare for the rollout of these vehicles in their fleets. The full guidance is available at Ultra low emission taxi scheme.

The news follows London Taxi Company owner Geely’s announcement outlining plans for a new US$371 million state of the art facility to produce the next generation of low-emission London Black Taxis.

Geely was awarded US$25 million from the government’s Regional Growth Fund to build this facility, which will create 1,000 local jobs and ensure the London black taxi continues to be designed, developed and made in the UK.

These new taxis will comply with the new regulations being introduced by the Mayor of London that will require all London taxis to be zero-emission capable from January 2018.
Urban Traffic Control

Related Content

  • San Diego: Let there be (street)light
    March 30, 2020
    The influence of intelligent streetlights is spreading. David Crawford finds that San Diego’s deployment – and attendant legislation – may offer a blueprint for other cities going forward
    Read More
  • Cooperative infrastructure systems waiting for the go ahead
    February 3, 2012
    Despite much research and technological promise, progress towards cooperative infrastructure system deployment is still slow. Here, Robert Cone and John Miles take a considered look at how and when it might come about. From a systems engineering viewpoint it looks logical and inevitable that vehicles should be communicating between themselves and with the road infrastructure. But seen from a business viewpoint the case is not proven.
    Read More
  • Singapore introduces new vehicle emissions scheme
    March 8, 2017
    In an effort to improve air quality, Singapore is to introduce the Vehicular Emissions Scheme (VES) to replace the Carbon Emissions-Based Vehicle Scheme (CEVS) for all new cars, taxis and newly imported used cars with effect from 1 January 2018. The new scheme will cover four more pollutants to reduce harmful vehicle emissions and will be applicable for all cars and taxis registered from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2019. The VES rebate or surcharge for a car or taxi will be determined by its worst-perf
    Read More
  • Calculating the cost of stellar solutions
    August 10, 2016
    The increasing availability and accuracy of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) is opening up low-cost options in many areas as David Crawford finds out. Boosting commercialisation of European global navigation satellite system (EGNSS) technologies for ITS initially depends heavily on demonstrating competitive and cost/benefit advantages obtainable from the deployment of EGNOS (the current European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service), and ultimately the EU’s Galileo constellation (see box). So,
    Read More

Highlighted Content