Taxi drivers are not eco-criminals. We do not intentionally go out to destroy the planet whilst trying to do our bit and feed our families.
Like every other normal hard working member of society, we are just victims of poor judgment and badly managed/derived government policy.
With Governments, and the Motor Industry effectively underwritten by the oil industry, what choice did we have? We made the best of what was available, and affordable to get the job done. Plus, with the big push on diesel vehicles by the Blair/Brown government, we thought we were doing the right thing!?
Now, the goal posts need to be moved for unarguable reasons, but who is going to subsidise this change, and when will they invent a viable, practical vehicle that will do more than 120 miles without having to stop and charge for an hour or more, only to then have 80% charge? Assuming the charger works and you can find one that is available.
To boot, used car prices have more or less doubled in the last 2 years, making it even harder to afford even a EURO6 diesel vehicle for a large proportion of the Taxi and PH Trade.
With the council seeking to enforce an age limit of 10 years and minimum EURO6 for diesel on new vehicle application or replacement (minimum Euro4 for petrol), where does that leave the vialibilty of our businesses?
Such aggresive policy making, could shrink a trade that is already struggling to get drivers to begin with, following the effects of the pandemic, purely by forcing the trade to write cheques their businesses cannot cash, or take on finance that could sink them under!
Yet when all this is said, the Taxi & PH Trade in Cornwall is only responsible for 0.47% of the actual diesel pollution! What about policy making to counter the other 99.53%??? See the stats here…
With the price of used cars having doubled recently, and new vehicles rediculously priced out of the equation, this may look good as a headline to make the Council look like they are taking ‘Green’ action, but the only thing it will make a dent in is the finacial viability of Taxi businesses, and threaten what are essential public services run by ‘key workers’!