Think the new Taxis are cleaner?
The fact is that you are wrong; the newer vehicles are not cleaner.
Boris himself made statements acknowledging that Euro 5 vehicles create MORE pollution.
(see info and link below)
My 14 year old test taxi is cleaner than a brand new taxi , so to say that newer taxis are cleaner is factually incorrect.
I don’t care whether taxi drivers are bothered about the age limit; I have been fighting it on principle alone (if it was on a commercial basis I would have stopped a long time ago)
I know that the improper conduct and decisions can be exposed and that this will lead to full exposure of the corruption at TFL.
It will only be then that there will be a reasonable and fair system of management put in place.
To campaign for a scrapage scheme is absurd.
Most drivers cant afford to replace their taxis on a regular basis even if there was a subsidy
Secondly the new taxis are creating MORE pollution.
Thirdly there is no money for this and if there was it would be difficult for the GLA to justify bunging taxi drivers while fire stations are being shut, A and E departments closed down , police station being shut and thousands of emergency workers being put out of work.
Fourthly there are simple solutions to reduce pollution which would cost nothing ie engine clean up , bio fuels , better traffic management etc
There have been no improvements in diesel abatement technology that work effectively in an urban environment.
ALL diesel vehicles create excessive pollution including the new Nissan.
There are vehicles in development which will be available in 2016 which will be the cleanest achievable in the near future.
By asking for a scrapage scheme you are saying ’ pay us some money and we will accept the corrupt and improper practices of TFL. It portrays taxi drivers as self interested and money orientated which is not good.
There is a massive opportunity to hold TFL to account on the age limit issue. If taxi drivers are too dumb to understand that as a strategy, then they can only blame themselves for their inevitable fate.
This Government document includes evidence from the Mayor BEFORE the taxi age limit was introduced.
He acknowledges that the new Euro standards ie Euro 5 SHOW AN increase in NO2 from vehicles
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmenvaud/writev/air/m28.htm
The MAYOR Said in June 2011
‘’11. NO2 levels have not fallen in recent years as modeling had predicted. This is a problem across major cities in the UK and across the EU. Emerging evidence, including a report by King’s College London, suggests that this may be due to the failure of recent Euro standards to deliver expected reductions of NO2 [1] . A Euro 5 car, for example, emits around five times as much direct NO2 as a fifteen year old car.’’
(The report is dated 2011-before the Taxi Age Limit is introdcued)
HE HAS THEN COMPLETELY IGNORED HIS OWN TECHNICAL EVIDENCE AND INTRODUCED A TAXI AGE LIMIT ON THE BASIS THAT EURO 5 TAXIS WILL CAUSE LESS POLLUTION!!!
This further statement below is taken from the Mayors Air Quality Strategy in 2010.
He is acknowledging that improved Euro standards of approval for a vehicle do not show improvements in N02 (one of the harmful emissions).
In other words he is acknowledging that the Euro 5 taxis will not show any improvement in emissions
He also acknowledges that the drive cycle conditions at which vehicles are approved do not reflect the urban drive cycle in which they are used.
In other words he knows that they will not necessarily be any cleaner
http://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Air_Quality_Strategy_v3.pdf
The Mayor said;
Improving the emissions from all vehicles through new technologies
3.6.14. Euro air quality standards play an important role in driving improved performance
on emissions. They were developed to ensure that natural fleet replacement results in
significant reductions in pollutant emissions. They are also used by policymakers to
specify requirements within different policies and schemes. Their ongoing
development is therefore vital, with a focus on ensuring they are as effective as
possible in delivering the benefits in reduced emissions that they have been designed
to achieve, particularly when combined with abatement technologies.
3.6.15. Research into the application of Euro standards has highlighted that the higher
standards do not deliver the expected improvements in emissions of NOx, especially
for diesel cars and LGVs. Over the past few years, the amount of NO2 emitted directly
by these vehicles has increased and overall NOx emissions(which include NO2) have
tended to stabilise (rather than reduce), whilst improvements have been seen in HGVs
and buses, more so since the introduction of the Euro IV standards for these vehicle
types.
3.6.17. The Mayor will encourage the Government and the European Commission to
ensure that future Euro standards deliver improvements in emissions in order to
improve air quality in London. The Mayor will all also seek to make the case for
improvements to the testing and enforcement processes for Euro standards; for
example, the vehicle approval processes and testing standards could better reflect the
actual on-urban road emissions of vehicles, as opposed to those derived from the
figures obtained in laboratory conditions or based on drive cycles that are not
representative of urban driving conditions.
THE MAYOR KNEW ABSOLUTELY, THAT THE NEW EURO 5 TAXIS WILL NOT RESCUE POLLUTION AND THAT THEY ARE ACTUALLY WORSE FOR NO2 THAN THE OLDER TAXIS, IN 2010 /2011 BEFORE HE INTRODCUED THE TAXI AGE LIMIT
(WHICH WAS SUBSEQUENTLY PROVEN BY THE KINGS COLLEGE /DEFRA REPORT)