London Taxi PR calls for rethink into ULEV road restrictions as they imply ‘Restraint of Trade’ on the profession

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London Taxi PR is calling on both the City of London Corporation and the Mayor of London to rethink their plans to impose air quality pilot schemes in Moor Lane, Moorgate, and additionally and most recently in Tooley Street and Borough High Street areas, as this will once again restrict all vehicles that are not ULEV compliant.

They also stressed the proposals will impact the profession, passengers and businesses who all wish to use licensed London Taxis as their journey provider. The organisation is not only calling on the City of London and the Mayor of London to reconsider these restrictions and their impact on London Taxis, but also take into consideration the effect on businesses within the zones. The new road restrictions are set to come into play within the City of London in Moor Street, Moorgate, and the pending restriction of access for Taxis and vehicles in Tooley Street will ONLY allow ULEV vehicles to access these areas, therefore effectively ‘banning’ Licenced London Taxis who are not ULEV compliant from plying their trade within the restriction zones. This would, according to LTPR, give an unfair trade advantage to other competitors whose vehicles are ULEV compliant, and therefore would create a mini monopoly, which would only increase as more clean air emission zones are rolled out within the City of London. A London Taxi PR spokesperson said: “We will be seeking exemption for ALL Licensed London Taxis within the restriction zones, which will be of benefit to ALL passengers, who choose to use London Taxis for their journey’s to and from their workplace in the restriction zones. “All London Taxis are purpose built, fully wheelchair accessible vehicles, and the recent imposition of road traffic restrictions in Islington and Hackney has already seen a similar campaign activated on behalf of the licensed London Taxi profession by LTPR to have exemption applied. This is due to the fact that the vast majority of the 23,500 licensed taxis in London are unable to go into the affected roads, as the restrictions only allow access to electric vehicles. “According to confirmed statistics, currently, there are just 821 ULEV taxis in operation across the whole of the UK, so not only is this felt to be a restrictive practice being imposed on the profession, but, more importantly, for all Taxi passengers. “Equally, it is thought that by allowing only electric taxi vehicles to access these areas that the restrictions are potentially breaching the Equality Act as it puts passengers with disabilities at a disadvantage, and the aim could have been achieved through less restrictive alternatives.”

December 03, 2018 at 10:20AM https://ift.tt/2ufVjKI Perry Richardson THESE POSTS ARE NOT OUR ENDORSEMENT