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‘Some drivers will be unable to find a cab’: LTDA warns of new cab transition threat to London taxi fleet if TfL do not act
The announcement of LEVC’s forthcoming new model has been welcomed as a major commitment to the future of London’s black cab trade, but the LTDA says significant work remains to prevent a shortage of taxis before the new model becomes available.
Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association General Secretary Steve McNamara said confirmation that Geely-owned LEVC was developing an entirely new London taxi brought “both relief and anticipation in equal measure”, with the trade now seeking greater certainty over the transition from the existing TXE.
Writing in the LTDA’s Taxi newspaper, McNamara said: “Just the other week, LEVC finally announced what we’ve been needing to hear: that they were building a new cab for London, the TX6 will be with us within the year.”
However, McNamara said the new cab would not be available immediately and warned that sales of the current model, the TXE, were expected to stop. That raises the prospect of a period when drivers requiring a replacement taxi could have limited access to new vehicles.
He said: “Unfortunately, the new cab will not be available until next year and with sales of the current model, the TXE, now stopped, there will be a considerable period in which my members will not be able to buy a new cab.”
McNamara warned that without change some older taxis could reach their mandatory retirement age before TX6 replacements become available, potentially removing working vehicles from the fleet.
He added: “Whilst LEVC do have a reasonable stock of second hand TXEs, this will not be enough to sustain the current fleet numbers going forward, as older cabs fall off licence because of the age limit.”
The LTDA has therefore approached Transport for London (TfL) seeking a temporary regulatory measure covering the transition. McNamara said he had formally asked TfL Director of Sponsored Services and Regulatory Compliance Danny Price to temporarily suspend the 12-year age limit applying to the last Euro 6 V taxis until the first TX6 vehicles are available for delivery.
In his letter to Price, McNamara warned that without such action “there will be a shortage of taxis with the consequence that some drivers will be unable to find a cab and will effectively be rendered unemployed”.
McNamara said he had also raised the issue directly with senior figures at TfL and City Hall after becoming aware that a gap between TXE and TX6 availability was likely.
He said: “Having known for some time that there would be a time gap between the last of the TXEs and the arrival of the first TX6s, I had used that time to meet with all of the senior people at TfL, as well as the deputy mayor and City Hall’s air quality team, to lay out the case for a hiatus of the age limit.”
The discussions have involved balancing fleet availability against the Mayor of London’s air quality objectives. According to McNamara, the potential impact of temporarily retaining older taxis has been considered alongside the consequences of allowing vehicles to leave the fleet without sufficient replacements.
He said: “There was a lot of detail on the likely impact on the mayor’s air quality targets versus the possible impact on the availability of cabs to the public, and I feel I was able to prove that the benefits of a temporary suspension far outweighed the negatives.”
No confirmation of such a concession has yet been announced, meaning the regulatory position during the TX6 transition remains unresolved. McNamara said he was “more on the side of being optimistic of a result rather than completely confident in one”.
Beyond the immediate supply issue, the LTDA has strongly welcomed Geely’s decision to fund an entirely new taxi capable of satisfying London’s Conditions of Fitness rather than withdrawing from the specialist market.
McNamara said: “This is a massive investment from Geely to design and build a totally new ground up, unique vehicle to meet the London Conditions of Fitness, something no other manufacturer would have ever even considered, truth be told.”
He described the project as evidence of “a genuine long-term commitment” to the taxi trade, London and the wider capital, but acknowledged that drivers still have relatively little confirmed information about the vehicle itself.
McNamara said the LTDA had experienced a surge of enquiries after news of the TX6 emerged. “Our phone lines went into meltdown with members calling,” he said, adding that drivers were seeking details which the association itself did not yet have.
“In fact, no one has all the info to share, so clarity on the biggest news of the year, or even decade, still requires LEVC to provide a fuller picture and reassurances to us all,” McNamara said.
The longer-term future of a purpose-built London taxi now appears more secure following Geely’s commitment to the TX6, but the industry must first negotiate the period between existing TXE supply ending and sufficient numbers of the new vehicle becoming available.
