Taxi drivers are complaining about Sheffield’s City Council’s new clean air zone and the new charges to commercial vehicles.
Altan Alan, 49, Sheffield taxi driver said: “were dying as it is, with everything going up, the cost of living going up.”
“They say it’s only £10 a day but you add that up, i’ll end up paying £240 a month. Its a cash grab, a money con.”
From the 27th of February, commercial vehicles entering the A61 ring road, that don’t meet euro deiseal 6 or euro petrol 4 standards, will be flagged using automatic number plate recognition.
The charge will be £50 for busses and lorries and £10 for taxies or light goods vehicle.
Taxi drivers say this would lead to even higher fares and further loss of business to an already decrepit high street.
Another local driver, Mr Khan, said: “The council should represent the best interest of Sheffield citizens, but they are not. The money they got to implement this scheme should be invested in transport and in the city centre.
Many were also confused by the councils decision, considering the city was already below emissions targets.
A representative of Absolute Cabs in Doncaster who regularly bring people into Sheffield said that the scheme may not make much of a difference to air pollution in the city.
They said: “People will still go to where they need to go” and that ultimately “the passengers will have to pay more money or take more time to get where they want to go.”
They also pointed out how this will mostly affect drivers with vehicles older than 2017.
Sheffield city council say older, polluting vehicles are a major source of air pollution.
They say they are not aiming to make money from the zone. The annual cost of air pollution to the UK is £20 billion and 40,000 lives. Reducing the damage from air pollution saves money by saving lives.
The council has implemented schemes to help owners upgrade their vehicles, but Mr Khan said this wouldn’t go far enough: ‘they are going to give me £6,000 to buy a £70,000 car?’
However some Climate activist say the project does not go far enough.
Private vehicles will be exempt form the charges and business’ in Sheffield and Rotherham could be eligible to apply for a temporary exemption until the 5th June 2023.
This exemption will also automatically apply to Hackney carriage taxis that are licensed with Sheffield city council.
The revenue from the charges will only be spent on running the zone and towards other air pollution projects and city centre transport.
The funding from the zone can only be spent on the costs to run the zone, and projects to reducing air pollution in Sheffield.
Payments via online portal. If payments are not made within 7 days, additional penalty charges may apply.