Plans to ‘green’ Nottingham’s taxi fleet

Nottingham City Council’s Taxi Strategy will see plans to ‘green’ the fleet and make the service a customer-friendly part of the city’s world-class transport network begin.

The council has successfully bid for £702,000 of money from the Office of Low Emissions Vehicles which will see 32 connection points installed at eight locations around the city from early next year, which constitutes wider plans to make taxi drivers more willing to convert their vehicles to low-emission. A new government Plug-In Taxi Grant will allow vehicle dealers to claim a grant of between £3,000 and £7,500 – making the vehicles cheaper for drivers.

‘Greening’ the taxi fleet is a key part of the council’s drive to improve air quality, along with measures like the first low-emission vehicle-only lane in the country, one of the largest electric and gas powered bus fleets in the country, investment in cycling facilities and the recent expansion of the tram network.

Toby Neal, Portfolio Holder for Community and Customer Services, said: “This is the beginning of a new dawn for taxi services in Nottingham. We have a world-class public transport network, with arguably the best bus and tram services in the country, and these improvements will bring local taxi services up to the same high standard. We are removing any barriers that might prevent taxis from becoming greener, by installing a network of charging points and making arrangements so that getting a new lower-emission vehicle is affordable.

“In the next few years, we will see the fleet of hackney cabs transformed to clean, modern re-branded vehicles and uniformed drivers fully trained in customer service. We also intend to bring out an Uber-style app for hackneys so that it is an appealing, customer-focused service for modern-day passengers.”

As well as environmental improvements, taxi vehicles will be re-branded, drivers will be trained in customer service and provided uniforms.