LONDON U-TURN LPG Cabs

New measures to tackle congestion, reduce toxic emissions, improve air quality and protect health

The Mayor and TfL have unveiled a package of measures to reduce air pollution and congestion in central London, with the aim of protecting Londoners' health and giving them the air quality they deserve.

The package confirms that private hire vehicles will no longer be exempt from the Congestion Charge. This change will help reduce congestion and, combined with the start of the Ultra Low Emission Zone next April, will ensure further action is taken to clean up this fleet.

Following a public consultation that received more than 10,000 responses, the changes to the Congestion Charge include the replacement of the Ultra Low Emission Discount with a new phased Cleaner Vehicle Discount (CVD) that will incentivise only the cleanest vehicles to drive in central London.

"We have to make tough decisions to protect the health and wellbeing of Londoners and tackle harmful emissions from the most polluting vehicles"

In the first phase, only zero emission-capable vehicles will be exempt from the Congestion Charge from 8 April 2019.

The restrictions will tighten further in October 2021 to support the Mayor's ambition for zero-emission road transport by 2050, with only pure electric vehicles qualifying for the discount. The discount will expire in December 2025.

The Mayor has also announced that PHVs that do not meet the CVD standard or are not wheelchair accessible will also be discouraged from driving in central London with the removal of their exemption from the Congestion Charge.
Only the cleanest

The changes affecting PHVs will help tackle congestion and its associated problems, such as poor air quality, and are expected to reduce the number of PHVs circulating in the Congestion Charging Zone by up to 8,000 a day. The proposal was supported by the majority of respondents to the consultation.

Since the start of this year new diesel taxis have been banned from being licensed to operate on London's streets but further measures are required to deliver vital improvements in air quality to protect public health.

Recent analysis by the International Council on Clean Transportation shows that real-world emissions from London taxis are seven times laboratory limits, far exceeding passenger diesel cars.

Taxis are currently responsible for 20% of harmful NOx emissions and by 2020 they will be the biggest source of transport pollution in central London.

The new package of measures being proposed by the Mayor and TfL to tackle taxi emissions and support drivers switching to new zero emission capable taxis includes:

An enhanced delicensing fund, providing up to £10,000 for drivers who trade in their older, dirtier vehicles early

A £2.5 million fund to help drivers of newer Euro 5 taxis to convert to much cleaner LPG fuel

A consultation early next year on a phased reduction in maximum taxi age limits for the dirtiest vehicles from 15 years to 12 years by 2022

These moves will help ensure the Mayor is on track for reducing taxi emissions by 65% in 2025 to protect the health of Londoners.

This work coincides with the delivery of 150 rapid-charge points and generous grants of £7,500 to help taxi drivers to switch to electric as soon as possible. There are now nearly 1,000 zero-emission-capable taxis in the fleet.

The take-up of existing support to delicense dirty diesels has been low, with only around £450,000 of a multimillion pound fund used.

TfL has restructured this funding to make it more attractive, with £18m of payments available for taxi drivers who delicense their vehicles.

Top payments of £10,000 are available to the first 250 applicants, with tiered payment levels available at significantly higher levels than the current scheme.

A limited number of LPG conversion grants will also be available to drivers of Euro 5 taxis to support the shift of those vehicles with the worst NOx emissions to cleaner vehicles. The new delicensing payments and LPG grants will be open to applicants in January 2019.

TfL will consult on proposals to reduce the taxi age limit for the dirtiest vehicles to 12 years by 2022. The 15-year age limit would be strictly mandated in 2019, with a proposed reduction in the age limit each year until a 12 year age limit is reached. The age limit for Euro 6, LPG and ZEC taxis is proposed to remain at 15 years.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: 'Toxic air pollution in London is a major public health crisis that is stunting the lung development of our children and leads to thousands of premature deaths and increases the risk of asthma and dementia.


'We have to make tough decisions to protect the health and wellbeing of Londoners and tackle harmful emissions from the most polluting vehicles.

'We've prioritised cleaning up our bus fleet and the early introduction of the 24-hour Ultra Low Emission Zone in central London. Now we need private hire vehicles and taxis to play their part and help us clean up our filthy air.'

Alex Williams, TfL's Director of City Planning, said: 'Bold action is required to tackle London's public health crisis. The taxi and private hire trades are central to reducing the filthy fumes circulating in our city.

'This package of measures will contribute to fewer vehicles driving where pollution is most concentrated and encourage the switch from diesel to electric.'
Important step

Tanya Braun, Head of Policy and Communications at Living Streets, said: 'Given the exponential growth of private hire vehicles in London, TfL has taken an important step in removing the Congestion Charge exemption for PHVs across the city.'

Dr Jonathan Grigg, Professor of Paediatric Respiratory and Environmental Medicine, Queen Mary University of London, said: 'Unfortunately older black cabs produce very high levels of toxic emissions. It is therefore reasonable that the GLA removes this fleet from London's roads as soon as possible.

'This is an effective way of protecting Londoner's health - especially the health of vulnerable young children.'

Drew Kodjak, Executive Director of the International Council on Clean Transportation, said 'The TRUE initiative has been working closely with London's Mayor's Office to investigate the real world emissions of vehicles driving on London's roads.

'Our analysis has found that the policies that have been put in place to reduce harmful emissions from London's bus fleet have resulted in significant decreases over the past five years.

'Over the same time period emissions from London's black taxi cab fleet have been on the rise. We commend Mayor Khan and his staff for taking action to address harmful emissions from taxi cabs in the city.'

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 BOLTON

A DRIVER who smashed into a taxi and left two women passengers for dead had spent the previous day drinking and taking drugs.

Bolton Crown Court heard that the women suffered multiple serious injuries, with one needing part of her skull removing, after Scott Lomax hurtled through Bradford Street traffic lights at almost twice the speed limit and into the side of the taxi.

The force of the impact sent Kelly Kenny and Danielle Worthington flying though the taxi window into the wet road, with one of them ending up under Lomax's car.

Lomax ran off and was later found at a nearby house — he had continued drinking and had was woken by police after falling asleep.

Bolton Crown Court heard that, immediately prior to the crash, 29-year-old Lomax, who has never passed a driving test, was driving aggressively and erratically in the Ford Focus he owns.

David Lees, prosecuting, told how, just before 3am on November 26 2017, Lomax, who was said to be angry following a row, became involved in a altercation with a woman driver in Bolton.

At one stage he pulled alongside her and was revving his engine at traffic lights then cut in front of her and sped off through another set of red traffic lights at the junction of Bradford Street and St Peter's Way.

Then he turned his vehicle around and was heading back to the same set of traffic lights at up to 55 miles an hour when he smashed into the Peugeot taxi being driven by Sajid Butt.

The right turn traffic light filter was not in Mr Butt's favour.

"But had Mr Lomax been driving at 30mph then there would have been more than enough time for Mr Butt to complete the manoeuvre," said Mr Lees.

Both vehicles were sent spinning, with the Peugeot taxi crashing into a barrier.

None of the three women passengers in the taxi were wearing seat belts.

Mr Butt suffered minor injuries and Chloe Howarth's teeth were damaged, but Ms Kenny and Ms Worthington were so severely injured that a passing motorist, who stopped to help, thought they were dead.

Ms Warburton's skull was so badly fractured that part of it had to be removed and she suffered a fractured spine, shoulder and pelvis as well as nerve damage and lacerations to her kidney and liver. She remained in hospital for 10 weeks and is still suffering from her injuries.

Ms Kenny was placed in an induced coma after suffering a fractured skull, ribs, nose and needed surgery on her back and pelvis as well as a tracheotomy. She was in critical care for three and a half weeks and did not leave hospital for two months.

In court, an impassioned message from her to Lomax was read out (see below).

Lomax, of Richmond Drive, Leigh, who has previous convictions for serious motoring offences, pleaded guilty to two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

In a letter to the court he said: "I feel ashamed and remorseful for my actions. I cannot make any sort of excuse for my actions."

Shirlie Duckworth, defending, added: "No sentence from the court can compensate the victims or repair the damage to their lives. He would have preferred to have died rather than cause the injuries he did."

The maximum sentence for causing serious injury is five years in prison and Judge Richard Gioserano jailed Lomax for 32 months.

He was scathing in his criticism of Lomax, who had been drinking, taken cocaine and had very little sleep before driving aggressively and showing "disregard for the safety of other people."

He added: "The collision which resulted cost two women dearly.

"Whilst you ran away the severity of their injuries became apparent.

"Even if you did not see them lying in the road you did not, for a moment, think about anyone but yourself.

"You chose to vent your anger by driving dangerously deliberately and other people have had to pay the price for that."

Lomax was also banned from applying for a driving licence for six years and four months, after which he will have to take an extended driving test.

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 MERSEYSIDE

THERE are calls for a clampdown on taxi drivers taking drugs while working in our region, after an 80th arrest for the offence in less than 18 months.

It was revealed on Thursday that more and more private hire and taxi drivers are taking drugs after falling into 'hard times, having to work a lot of extra hours.'

Since the Liverpool City Region’s road safety strategy was launched in summer 2017, it was revealed that 80 taxi drivers have been arrested for drug driving.

The information was revealed at a meeting of the combined authority’s transport committee – which covers Liverpool, Knowsley, Wirral, St Helen’s, Sefton and Halton – on Thursday.

At the meeting, a Merseytravel official said some of the hours worked by drivers were 'incredible', and that many took drugs as they saw it the only way to extend working time 'effectively.'

He added: “It’s an outlying cause of casualties, and seems to be a problem specific to the city region.”

Cllr Liam Robinson, chair of the committee, called for tougher measures to be introduced to clampdown on the problem – to make the roads safer for everyone.

He said: “We have got the best taxi drivers anywhere in the country, but there is a small minority doing things that are illegal. It really concerns me how acute and problematic that is.

“If you’re driving a train or a bus, you’re subject to a random testing regime so rigorous that the number of instances and offences is virtually nil. It’s so strong, and that’s for good safety reasons.

“Should we think about having proper random testing regimes, so we can get this stuff out of the profession?

“80 arrests is huge. The danger it presents for other drivers and pedestrians is too high.”

He was told by the Merseytravel officer that steps were being explored alongside the different authorities’ individual licensing authorities.

It follows November, when it was revealed more than 40 taxi and private hire drivers had been arrested for drug driving on Merseyside since the start of the year.

At the time, Merseyside Police issued a stark warning to drivers that taking drugs and driving could result in losing their job, being imprisoned and even them or someone else dying.

Inspector Keith Kellett called it a 'disappointing' trend.

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 DONCASTER

A number of applications made in the last five years for taxi driver licences in Doncaster have been made by people with criminal records for sex offences, violent crime and drug-related offences.

Figures from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) obtained using a Freedom of Information request shows more than one in five requests and secondary checks on taxi/private hire licences was from an individual with a previous criminal conviction.

According to the figures, 1,588 DBS checks were carried out for taxi or private hire licences related to Doncaster between April 2013 and March 2018. Of these, 320 showed previous criminal convictions – almost 23 per cent.

These included 120 checks which flagged previous convictions for violent offences.

The figures also included convictions for drug related offences and 15 sex offences which include indecent exposure towards a female, indecent assault on both males and females, gross indecency and soliciting a woman for prostitution from a motor vehicle.

Doncaster Council said they have ‘stringent policies’ and drivers undergo a DBS check every three years resulting in some results being duplicated.

Anyone wanting to become a driver needs to pass a knowledge test, a medical, a practical driving test and a safeguarding awareness course in place prior to submission of their application. 

At the point of application a DBS check will be carried out and a decision will be made as to whether the applicant is ‘fit and proper’.

Gill Gillies, assistant director of environment, said: “Doncaster Council has stringent taxi licensing policies.

“All taxi licence applicants must produce an enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) certificate and all existing licence holders are required to produce this certificate every three years.

“The figures provided cover a five year period, which does mean a number of the results will be a duplication as drivers will have been checked at least twice during that period.

“An enhanced DBS shows all convictions, including those which are considered to be ‘spent’ due to the number of years which have passed since the date of the conviction.

“I would like to reassure the public that we have a rigorous system in place to determine if a person is considered ‘fit and proper’ to hold a licence. Our over-riding consideration is always the protection of the public to ensure the highest levels of public safety and practice. We refuse inappropriate applications and can suspend and revoke existing drivers when needed.”

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A Cambridge taxi driver convicted of sexually assaulting two female passengers has walked free from Cambridge Magistrates Court.

Abu Bakar, 25, of Cam Causeway, Cambridge, was found guilty in December of two counts of sexual assault and was today (January 10) handed a suspended jail sentence.

The offences both took place on May 6 2018 in St Ives and involved sexually touching a woman without her consent.

The court heard that both the victims, who Bakar had picked up in his taxi, were drunk and in a "vulnerable position" at the time of the attacks.

Prosecuting, Giles Beaumont told the court one victim said: "I feel empowered to make an appeal against the taxi driver so that this doesn't happen again. I feel I will have to alter my habits so that I don’t take more taxis.

“He needs to know what he has done wrong and pay for his actions.”

Mr Beaumont asked the presiding magistrates to consider compensation to the two women as a priority.

Abu Bakar leaves Cambridge Magistrates court after his sentencing (Image: Keith Jones)

Mr Treba, defending Bakar, said his client "fully accepts what he did was wrong, and is not seeking to appeal the conviction".

He added: "There is obvious remorse."

Mr Treba told the court how Bakar's wife and two-a-half month old baby were dependent on him, and for that reason he should be spared from an immediate custodial sentence as it would be "devastating" to his family.

He said Bakar had lost his job and his taxi license and said that coming to court had "changed him" but "thankfully he still had the support of his wife and his family."

Mr Treba also told the court there was little chance of Bakar reoffending, and that "otherwise he conducted a law-abiding life and is a quiet member of the Islamic community".

He added that a judge had said "this wasn't the most serious type of this case that he had come across".

The court was told his wife and young child relied on him and a immediate custodial sentence would be 'devastating' to his family (Image: Cambridge News)

Magistrates retired for 45 minutes before returning to sentence Bakar, during which time the defendant sat with his head in his hands.

When magistrates returned, Bakar was given two consecutive six month jail sentences which were suspended for two years.

He would also be put onto the Sex Offenders' Register for ten years, and would have to keep police updated of his address every year.

Bakar was also told to pay court costs and a victim surcharge totalling £880, but would not have to pay compensation to his victims. He was required to complete 80 hours of unpaid work.

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HEATHROW

 British Airways has added new electric London taxis to its fleet of Premium Transfer Drive vehicles.

The service was launched in 2017, to provide eligible customers with a car transfer from their domestic flight to an onward BA short or long-haul service, where there is a risk of them otherwise missing the connection.

Customers are met by a driver at the aircraft side, and driven free of charge directly to their onward flight.

The service is available to the following customers when connecting from a UK domestic service:

    Passengers connecting onto a short-haul flight in Club Europe

    Passengers connecting onto a long-haul flight in either

 Club World or First Silver or Gold Executive Club members

The London Electric Vehicle Company taxis feature a panoramic roof, air conditioning, wifi, charging for phones and laptops.

BA said that the addition was part of its long-term plan to reduce emissions from all vehicles at Heathrow.

“It’s great to see the reaction of customers when they’re met by a London taxi at the side of the aircraft, waiting to take them on to their next flight,” said Daljit Hayre, British Airways’ Senior Manager, Heathrow Customer Experience.

“They’ve told us how much they appreciate this gesture, plus they love the space in the vehicle for their hand baggage. We’re also really pleased that using new generation electric taxi reduces our carbon footprint.”

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 NOTTINGHAM

A cabbie may lose his job after a parking squabble with a community officer he regarded as "very officious."

Mehmood Khan must pay £200 compensation to the man, who ended up winded and with a red mark on his torso.

He had denied assaulting the official outside the NG1 club on October 14 but was found guilty of recklessly causing the injury. City magistrates had adjourned the case to await reports.

The court heard that Khan's licence will be reviewed by officers of Gedling Borough Council, who issued it.

The case arose after Khan, 46, stopped his taxi and was told he was in a prohibited zone.

Donna Fawcett, prosecuting, said officers were looking for taxi drivers who were breaching the terms of their licences.


One approached Khan and Miss Fawcett told the court: "He took objection to being spoken to about where he was parked. The officer said it could cost him a £100 fine and three points on his licence.

"Mr Khan became angry and said he was entitled to be there."

After the worker was hurt, Khan "accused him of lying and said that he threw himself over his car," added Miss Fawcett.

Julian Griffiths, defending, said that it took place at 3am when Khan stopped because there was an incident. He was not picking up fares.

"What he did take exception to was that the complainant appeared to be very officious to the point of being aggressive," he said.

Khan was sitting in his cab with the handbrake off and the clutch engaged. He might not have been "in proper control of the car."


Mr Griffiths said that Khan had to face a council enquiry on February 4 and added: "His career is at risk."

District Judge Tim Spruce ordered Khan to carry out 75 hours unpaid work.

"Whether intended or not, injury was caused," the judge told Khan of Glamis Road, Basford who must pay £300 prosecution costs and government tax of £85.

The judge added: "This is totally out of character for you. I recognise very much the consequences which go beyond the court process because the licensing authority are no doubt wondering whether you are still a fit and proper person to drive a taxi."

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HONG KONG

Taxi drivers plan anti-Uber march, threatening to escalate to citywide protest

Armed with information on 800 alleged illegal ride-hailing cases, Hong Kong’s disgruntled taxi drivers are preparing to step up their fight against Uber with a series of large-scale actions.

In a joint letter to the industry, the Motor Transport Workers General Union and the Taxi Drivers & Operators Association have called for 300 cabbies to join a protest planned for January 15 at the Chief Executive’s Office in Admiralty.

The two taxi groups declared that, through undercover operations over the past few months, they had uncovered about 800 cases of Uber drivers illegally plying their trade, and reported 100 of them to police.

The organisations plan to submit the 800 cases to Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and the Executive Council before marching to the Department of Justice to call for immediate prosecution in the 100 reported cases and prompt police investigations into the rest.

They threatened to escalate their fight into a citywide protest if the government did not respond to their call within a week.

“Since Uber has entered Hong Kong’s market, the income of taxi drivers has dropped drastically. It’s time for us to kick Uber out from Hong Kong,” the letter read.

“We will demand that the chief executive give us a response within one week … if there is no response after that, we may escalate our actions to the whole industry to protest against the government’s inaction for strangling the taxi industry.”

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INDIAN taxi-hailing firm Ola is seeking permission to operate in Bournemouth.

The multi-billion pound company is seeking to continue its expansion across the UK, having already been awarded licences by local authorities across the South West and south Wales.

The firm says it is aiming to ‘become an intrinsic part of the transportation ecosystem’ in Bournemouth and is intending to have 150 vehicles available before the borough council considers its application.

Founded in 2011, Ola made its first expansion outside of India in February last year when it started running in Australia.

Over the course of 2018, the firm was issued licences across parts of south west England and south Wales, including Bristol and Newport.

Members of Bournemouth council’s licensing board will consider its request to begin operating in Bournemouth on Thursday (January 10).

Its application says: “It is Ola’s intention to be an inclusive transportation platform serving the mobility needs of its people in both a reliable and transparent manner and become an intrinsic part of the transportation ecosystem.

“Ola will be the only mobile app offering both private hire vehicles and black cabs on its platform and steadily encourage adoption of ultra low-emission electric vehicles.”

The firm is planning to base itself in an office unit in the town and appoint a ‘day-to-day operations manager’ who will ‘liaise’ with its London headquarters ‘to roll-out marketing and operational activities in Bournemouth’.

Competition in the taxi app market in the town was boosted last year with the launch of Cab Comparison which has already signed up companies including Mobile Radio Cars, Parkstone Cars, Liberty Cars and Dorset Airport Taxis to its platform.

US-based market rival Uber had also planned to move into Bournemouth but withdrew its plans in 2017.

Ola made its intentions to move into the town public at the end of November when it sent an overview of its business plan to the council before lodging its application for a private hire operators’ licence.

The application will be considered by the council’s licensing board at its meeting on Thursday, January 10.

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A second South Korean taxi driver has died after setting himself on fire inside his vehicle in protest at plans to introduce a cut-price ride-sharing service in Seoul. 

Images of a taxi on fire close to Gwanghwamun Station, in central Seoul, were widely shared in social media on Wednesday evening. The driver was pulled from the vehicle and treated at a nearby hospital for severe burns but died on Thursday morning, police told the Yonhap news agency.

Authorities have only identified the man by his last name, Lim, and are investigating in the belief that it was a suicide.

Mr Lim’s death is the second being linked to plans to launch Kakao T Carpool, a car-sharing app that has been created by Kakao Corp, one of South Korea’s largest IT companies.

In December, a 57-year-old driver with the family name Choi poured a flammable liquid over himself while behind the wheel of his car as it was parked outside the South Korean parliament and set fire to himself.

In a suicide note, Mr Choi wrote, “I am sacrificing my life in the hopes that taxi drivers can earn livable wages one day”.

Mr Choi’s death sparked a series of protests by the capital’s cab drivers, with an estimated 100,000 drivers demonstrating outside the national assembly four days later and demanding that the government ban the Kakao T app.

The service is as much as 30 percent cheaper than taxi fares and 70,000 people had registered as drivers before Mr Choi’s death, suggesting that it would have been popular and had a serious impact on the taxi industry.

The company quickly halted testing of the service and expressed its regret for Mr Choi’s death, although Kakao Corp. has not declared that it is cancelling the scheme entirely.

Support for the drivers has been limited, however, due to a reputation for underhand practices within the industry.

Drivers routinely refuse to take passengers who are only going a short distance late at night, have been accused of driving too fast or dangerously in order to complete a trip as quickly as possible and have been known to over-charge customers, particularly foreign visitors.

A driver in Busan was fined this week after picking up a British couple from the International Passenger Terminal at Busan Port and charging them nearly £14 for a journey of less than 2 miles, approximately four times the real fare.
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A Preston taxi driver who threatened to rape Muslim converts to Christianity has handed over his licence.
The footage from the Hackney Carriage driver, 41, was widely shared on social media to the horror of viewers.

He was later arrested by police on “suspicion of religiously aggravated harassment”.

The driver appeared before Preston City Council’s Taxi and Miscellaneous Committee today to have his Hackney Carriage driver’s licence reviewed.


A Preston City Council spokesperson said: “During the course of the hearing, the driver agreed to hand-in their Hackney Carriage driver’s licence by the close of business today, and has already done so.

“This will be in effect until the completion of the related police investigation and any subsequent legal processes.
“The driver will be unable to drive a Hackney Carriage in Preston until reappearing before the Taxi and Miscellaneous Committee for a full licence review.”
Following the release of the video a petition calling for the Deepdale-based driver’s licence to be revoked was launched and has now reached almost 2,000 signatures.

The taxi driver was bailed by police until Wednesday, January 16.

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Mandatory taxi & PH emissions reporting - Taxi Defence Barristers

The Government has laid Regulations in Parliament that will make it mandatory for council’s to regularly upload certain taxi & PH data to a national database.

The Air Quality (Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles Database) (England and Wales) Regulations 2019 are expected to come in to force in April 2019 and will require all councils responsible for licensing taxis and PHVs in England and Wales to provide certain information about the taxis and PHVs that they have licensed to a central portal on a minimum weekly basis.

Read also: Low Emission Zones – Legal Implications for the Taxi & Private Hire Sector

This will include as a minimum, the Vehicle Registration Number, start and expiry date of the vehicle licence, whether the vehicle is a taxi or PHV and the name of the licensing authority.

The central database will form part of the infrastructure that government is developing to support the introduction of charging Clean Air Zones by some local authorities from 2020 as part of their local plans to ensure compliance with statutory nitrogen dioxide limits in the shortest possible time.

In some cases, local authorities will implement Clean Air Zones that apply charges to taxis and PHVs but not to private cars. Local authorities may also wish to set a different level of charge for taxis and PHVs and private cars. In these circumstances, local authorities will need to be able to distinguish private cars from taxis and PHVs.”

https://bit.ly/2VJqdVR
 

UBERK ABERDEEN

A council convener today said he is “surprised” a controversial taxi firm Uber has yet to arrive in Aberdeen.

The Evening Express revealed in September 2017 the company was looking to launch as soon as possible.

The service, which allows customers to book a taxi using an app, is currently available in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Aberdeen City Council granted Uber a licence in January 2018.

Since the booking office licence approval – which is valid until December 2020 – Uber has yet to start recruitment in the Granite City or officially announce when the cashless service would be available.

Convener of the licensing committee, John Reynolds, said the Silicon Valley firm can launch “whenever they want”.

He said: “I’m a little surprised they haven’t taken off because they do have a reputation of offering lower prices.”

Graeme McColl, chairman of Aberdeen Taxi Group, said he feels the service may never launch in the north-east.

Due to licensing rules at Aberdeen City Council, any driver who wishes to work for Uber would have to pass a number of criteria including a street knowledge test.

Mr McColl said: “I think Uber will have a problem launching in Aberdeen.

“In the current climate I don’t see the benefit for Uber. We are almost too small a city for them.”

Mr Reynolds added: “They can launch whenever they want. It has taken us a year to get to where we are at the moment and they haven’t launched, so the chairman of the Aberdeen Taxi Group may well be right – there might be no drivers willing to transfer over.

“The benefit I can see with Uber is a cheaper fare, but if they are saying to taxi drivers they may have to reduce their prices by 20%, that’s probably the reason they are not launching.”

A spokeswoman for Uber said it had no updates on its Aberdeen plans.

https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/news/local/fare-wait-for-uber-taxi/