Taxi drivers have demanded Scotland’s biggest cities follow Manchester mayor Andy Burnham’s lead and scrap new pollution charges.
In Glasgow, motorists will face a fine of up to £480 from June 2023 if caught in a Low Emission Zone (LEZ) driving a vehicle that doesn’t meet green standards.
Similar penalties will be introduced in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee in 2024, despite thousands of cars – including hundreds of black cabs – currently failing to meet the regulations.
In Manchester, former Labour MP Burnham has announced he will refuse to implement Clean Air Zone (CAZ) charges and instead wants owners of older vehicles to be eligible for grants to replace them.
He said: “The red line is we will not accept a charging CAZ in Greater Manchester and, if that is what the Government wants, it will have to impose it.”
While in Manchester private cars would not have been charged, in Scotland almost all vehicles are due to be hit.
In most cases diesel engine vehicles registered before 2015 and petrol vehicles registered before 2006 will fail to make the grade.
For taxi drivers, it could mean having to shell out £60,000 for a new cab –despite two years of low earnings as a result of the pandemic.
While some older vehicles can be retrofitted to meet the standards, up to 1000 may have to be taken off the road.
Calum Anderson, chairman of the Glasgow Cab Section of union Unite and a taxi driver for 34 years, said: “I think Andy Burnham has got it right on this one.
“In Glasgow hundreds of taxi drivers are simply going to leave the industry next year because they can’t afford to buy a new taxi for over £60,000 that is compliant with the LEZ zone requirements.
“We have just been through a pandemic where our earnings were devastated for two years, now it feels like Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Government are punishing us.
“We have not even called for the scheme to be scrapped. We have just said they need to give us a few extra years.” About 1000 Hackney cabs – out of a fleet of 1420 – are non-compliant with the LEZ standards in Glasgow alone.
Scottish Labour transport spokesperson Neil Bibby said: “LEZs must be delivered fairly, without piling pressure on to people or costing jobs during a cost-of-living crisis.”
The Scottish and UK governments want all areas to bring down air pollution by 2024.
LEZs are designed to encourage people to drive less-polluting vehicles, including those powered by electric and more
modern petrol and diesels.
The Scots LEZs will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and will be enforced by Automatic Number Plate Recognition
cameras linked to a national vehicle licensing database.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here .
