Get a taxi in Cardiff today and your trip could now be cleaner and greener due to a Cardiff Council scheme which has provided more than £200,000 of grants to enable the city’s taxi drivers to upgrade to more fuel efficient or fully electric vehicles.
Every year the average full-time taxi driver in the UK clocks up anything from 25,000 to 45,000 miles of driving1– significantly more than the approximately 7,500 miles2the average UK driver covers. Cardiff’s Hackney Carriage fleet consists of many older, Euro 4 and Euro 5 diesel vehicles, meaning much of that mileage has a negative impact on the planet, and local air quality.
Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Strategic Planning and Transport, Cllr De’Ath said: “Transport accounts for around a third of the carbon emissions created in Cardiff, and the negative health impact of air pollution is well-documented. These grants help support the decarbonisation of Cardiff’s taxi fleet and puts this vital component in the city’s transport network on the road to a cleaner, greener future.”
Ranging from £5,000 – £10,000 per vehicle, the grants support drivers to purchase more modern and fuel-efficient Euro 6 vehicles as well as fully electric vehicles.
The grants form part of the Council’s One Planet Cardiff response to climate change which has seen a new solar farm delivered, 100,000 new trees planted, low-carbon energy efficient council housing built, and a growing network of segregated cycleways installed, alongside a wide range of other projects and initiatives.
For more information about One Planet Cardiff, visit: https://www.oneplanetcardiff.co.uk/
