Taxi Driver Online

Looks like a good offer, particularly since it seems like it doesn't have to be a WAV, and applies to both HCs and PHVs. I think

But obviously it's the kind of thing that will have lots of small print, by the looks of it. And the usual dose of council blather, and clunky English

£4m means 400 £10k grants, so it's a fair slab of cash.


Clean Air Zone grant funding allocated for fully electric Bradford licenced taxi vehicles

https://www.bradford.gov.uk/browse-all- ... -vehicles/

Article dated Friday Mar 17, 2023 at 04:13 PM

The Bradford Clean Air Zone has been live since September 2022 and is operating to improve air quality in the district by deterring the most polluting vehicles from entering the zone. Air pollution levels in Bradford have been found to be too high with damaging impacts on the health of residents.

The Bradford taxi trade has been extremely proactive in upgrading vehicles to Clean Air Zone standards. Thanks to grants already issued it is one of the cleanest fleets in the country with 98% of the 4,000 strong licensed taxi and private hire trade meeting the CAZ standard.

Bradford Council will be releasing £4m of funding to provide a grant of up to £10,000 for all Bradford licensed trade. This will assist Bradford licensed vehicle proprietors with the purchase, lease or running costs of a fully electric hackney Carriage or Private Hire Vehicle, this is the highest grant of this type in the UK.

The applications process will be live from May 2023 for Bradford licensed vehicle proprietors. The grant will be increased for non-Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles from £6,000 over 2 years to £10,000 over 2 years which brings it into line with the Hackney Carriage and Wheelchair Accessible Private Hire Vehicle EV grants. Proprietors who have already upgraded to other compliant vehicle types (such as petrol/electric hybrid) can apply for a top-up grant if they choose to go fully electric.

There are currently 200,000 electric vehicle movements per month in Bradford and these grants will support the Bradford taxi trade to also make the change to electric. Owners of electric vehicles can see savings in fuel costs as well as lower servicing and maintenance costs. These are on top of the driver health benefits of in-vehicle pollution reduction, respiratory health improvements and also a reduction in noise.

Cllr Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council's Executive Member for Healthy People and Places, said,

“The taxi trade in Bradford is booming with applications to become a driver at an all-time high. We are pleased to further extend our support to the Bradford taxi trade for the upgrade of their vehicles to fully electric by offering up to £10,000 per vehicle in grant funding to assist proprietors with the running costs of a fully electric Hackney Carriage or Private Hire Vehicle. The funding will be allocated on a first come first served basis.”

We would encourage anyone who is unsure if they need to pay or are entitled to grants or exemptions to call the Clean Air Zone team on 01274 435533 which is open Monday to Thursday, 8.30am to 5pm and Friday, 8.30am to 4.30pm.

Surely that should be a new sentence after Private Hire Vehicle rather than a comma?


And maybe a comma after, 'booming'?

That's just a couple of examples. But they're certainly good at their fancy pants job titles

SO I presume first come first served ?

It might be interesting to see how the trade reacts to this; whether it's a scramble to grab the cash or a poor take up rate.

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Not sure - the councillor just says that it's allocated on a 'first come first served' basis


Re your other point - indeed, it's an interesting time to offer this money, given that the council says 98% of the trade already meet the CAZ standard due to them having been so 'proactive' in upgrading

So presumably many cars have been renewed in the last year or two, so to that extent can't see them all rushing to get another motor.

That said, if it's a cheap EV, £10k is a lot of cash, but whether it's available for the cheapest EVs will depend on the small print, so who knows