Struggling Bradford taxi drivers protest against ‘timing’ of daily £12.50 clean air zone charge

Taxi drivers in Bradford protested against the planned Clean Air Zone (CAZ) which could force hardship on to an already struggling industry.

According to the organisers, BTAG Bradford (Better Taxi Action Group), the purpose of the protest held on Friday was to show Bradford Council how many drivers were unhappy with the way in which the new CAZ is being implemented.

Bradford Council will bring in the new CAZ in January, which will force owners of the most polluting vehicles to pay a fee to enter key parts of the city.

Controversially, private cars will be exempt, but taxis, vans and HGVs must all meet higher emission standards to avoid the added daily charge costing £12.50 for taxis.

Cab drivers will have to pay a daily charge (midnight to midnight) to enter the zone unless they have a Euro 6 Diesel (Hackney Carriage) or a Euro 5/6 Petrol Hybrid Standard (Private Hire Vehicle), or electric taxi. These standards will also become part of the Bradford taxi licensing policy.

In other cities around England, which includes Leeds, Nottingham and Derby, they have chosen to postpone or cancelled their plans to introduce Clean Air Zones in the area due to the impact of the pandemic.

Work levels in the taxi industry have fallen to an unprecedented low across the UK due to travel and social restrictions placed on communities throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Taxi drivers are hoping to recover from the financial damage caused by COVID-19 first, before investing in new costly low emission vehicles.

According to the protest organisers there could also be further action from the industry should Bradford Council ‘fail to respond to concerns’.

A BTAG spokesperson told TaxiPoint: “The purpose of the protest was to raise awareness amongst the council to the numbers of unhappy drivers.

“We fully support the proposed Clean air Zone but are at a loss to understand how targeting 5% of the traffic will be effective in reducing emissions. They should be targeting the other 95% of traffic too.

“Drivers are also unhappy with the lack of consultation and the timing of the zone being implemented. Other cities have scrapped or postponed their CAZ’s so why is Bradford pressing ahead?

“We took steps to ensure that this protest had a minimal impact on the public and public services. However we also would like Bradford Council to know that if they fail to respond to our concerns that any future protest will be held at peak times to cause maximum disruption.

“Overall we had a turnout of around 4-500 drivers. Police feedback was highly positive and they were impressed with the behaviour of the drivers joining the protest. Noting that everyone had adhered to our requests to maintain a professional and abide by the law.”