When was the idea to limit London taxis to a 12 year limit first suggested. At what meeting was this first minuted. Who suggested it.

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TfL Ref: FOI-1020-1920

Thank you for your email received by Transport for London (TfL) on 5 July 2019.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm we do hold the information you require. You asked:

When was the idea to limit London taxis to a 12 year limit first suggested

An age limit for London taxis was first introduced in 2010 when it became 15 years, irrespective of the year of licensing.

A proposal for a reduced 10 year taxi age limit was considered in 2015 as part of the public and stakeholder consultation (October 2014 to January 2015) for the central London Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). However, these proposals were not taken forward following discussions with taxi trade bodies, which proposed a target to have 9,000 Zero Emission Capable (ZEC) taxis in the fleet by 2020 (equivalent to a 45 per cent reduction in NOx emissions from taxis in central London based on 2013 levels) coupled with voluntary de-commissioning of the oldest taxis and financial incentives to retire them and purchase new ZEC taxis.

The then Mayor asked TfL to undertake a further consultation on these revised proposals between June and August 2015. This second consultation did not propose any reduction in the age limit but instead proposed the retention of the 15 year age limit, a target of 9,000 ZEC taxis by 2020 and voluntary de-licensing of older taxis with a financial assistance package. The consultation proposals stated that progress would be kept under review and the introduction of a reduced age limit reduction would be considered if there was insufficient progress towards that target, subject to further consultation. This is set out in the ULEZ Further Licensing Proposals for Taxi and Private Hire Vehicles Consultation Report’ (https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/environment/ulez-2/user_uploads/ulez-tph-consultation-2015-report.pdf).

In 2018 when it became clear that we were not on target to achieve 9,000 ZEC taxis by 2020 we considered a range of options to reduce taxi emissions, including reducing the age limit to 12 years for Euro 3, 4 and 5 taxis.

At what meeting was this first minuted.

Limiting the age limit of taxis to 12 years was first considered, amongst other options, at an internal Ultra Low Emission Vehicle Taxi & Private Hire Coordination Group in May 2018.

Who suggested it

The proposal was developed by TfL’s City Planning team.

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Yours sincerely

Eva Hextall

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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