Nottingham City Council has been selected by the government to support a study into delivering ultra-low emission taxis.
The £30,000 Energy Saving Trust (EST) feasibility study has been offered to the City Council after its application for funding from the Department for Transport’s £20m electric taxi development fund. This puts Nottingham’s case in pole position in its bid for a portion of the money.
The City Council has submitted an innovative bid that includes the introduction of low emission taxis and private hire vehicles across the City with supporting electric charging infrastructure.
The EST study will review current fleet operations and develop recommendations to encourage the conversion of the fleet to low emission vehicles, supporting local business and industry and help to deliver health and environmental benefits to the city including better air quality.
Councillor Nick McDonald, Nottingham City Council Portfolio Holder for Jobs, Growth and transport said: “It’s really important that as we develop our vision for a green, forward thinking city, the taxi industry in the city is supported to develop similarly. This funding will help us examine proposals to provide top up grants for purpose built electric Hackney Cabs, introducing a city centre low emission zone for buses, taxis and private hire vehicles and introducing a car charging network to service taxi and private hire fleets at strategic transport charging hubs. Clean, green taxis will add to Nottingham’s environmental reputation and make the city more attractive for visitors and residents, which in turn is good news for businesses too.”
The EST study will evaluate a number of proposals that may help to deliver the electric taxi objective. This includes adding access to the charging network into the wider transport package of offers provided by the Citycard, promotional discounted energy rate for taxis, eco driving training, ways to provide the energy including linking in to the Robin Hood Energy company and exploring the introduction of electric-only taxis in traffic restricted streets and bus lanes.
The government will announce the winning schemes in April 2016.