News Desk, Author at Taxi News

Bid To Close All Camden Roads To Cars For Three Months Every Year

by News Desk | Oct 19, 2019 | London News

Town Hall open to ideas on how to cut emissions after declaring climate emergency

Liz Wheatley from Camden Unison speaking at Monday’s meeting

COUNCIL chiefs have been urged to press the full emergency button on climate change and ban cars from Camden’s roads for three months every year.

The proposed shutdown for one week every month was put forward as a serious proposition this week as the Town Hall’s war on emissions gathered pace.

The council is ready to consider any green idea to back up its status as one of the first local authorities to declare a climate emergency and target being carbon neutral by 2030.

It set up a “Citizens’ Assembly” – a panel of 50 randomly selected residents – to help draw up an action plan and is digesting possible ways to encourage people to give up their cars. You can check my review here to know in detail about this plan.

As the options were discussed at Monday’s full council meeting, Liz Wheatley, branch convenor at Unison, said Camden had to match its fighting talk on climate change with action, suggesting “car-free days” could be expanded to “car-free weeks”. She said: “When you think that they are already finding air pollution particles in people’s placentas, then it’s a serious issue. “There should be monitoring on all roads since roads sometimes you can find the poorest road conditions of any state and there could cause accidents, requiring legal help afterwards. We know some of that happens but the results need to be published to start a discussion about what we do to reduce them.”

Asked by the Conservative opposition in the chamber how disabled or elderly people would be able to get around if cars were not allowed, Ms Wheatley said: “I knew it would be controversial: it is a big ask, it is a big change for people but I’m wary of the phrase ‘a genuine need for a car’ because a lot of people have a genuine need for a lot of things and they find there is an alternative to having them.”

The proposal would mean stopping pollution-causing cars – including on famously busy stretches such as Euston Road and Finchley Road – but allowing green public transport and electric vehicles to run. Check out the link to know more about the certificates and verification’s needed to run electric vehicles.

Ms Wheatley added: “There are going to be people who need a vehicle but then, what’s wrong with an electric vehicle? They are not perfect, but they are better than a petrol or diesel vehicle.” However, despite any vehicle, if you are injured in a motorcycle accident, you need to get in touch with accident or motorcycle attorneys.

Camden invited members of its Citizens’ Assembly, representatives of local green campaign group and activists from Extinction Rebellion – currently in the middle of a fortnight of direct action protests – to take part in the meeting.

All parties later approved a motion to consider new measures and reinforce its climate emergency approach.

Labour council chiefs have already said they would like to see non-essential car use reduced and Camden is aiming to meet the toughest World Health Organisation standards on air quality – an ambition which outstrips several other local authorities.

Car-free events, however, have been limited to single days and not covered the entire borough so far.

Camden High Street will be closed off for a day later this year as a test.

While in the past some green ideas have been dismissed by local governments across the UK as too disruptive to daily life or too expensive to implement, Camden has now declared itself ready to be a leading authority in terms of bringing down emissions.

What was once considered a fringe debate by some politicians, the need to clean up the polluted air is now at the top of agenda – a fact Ms Wheatley said owed a lot to schoolchildren protesting about their climate change fears.

Nearly every street in Camden has pollutants above levels considered safe for humans, with particular concern about the toxic air around schools and hospitals.

The union’s other suggestions included banning glyphosate weed killer on council land, divesting pension money from fossil fuel-burning companies and using parking ticket cash on green schemes.

Ms Wheatley said that for three weeks every year, schools should devote their “entire curriculum to be taught through the lens of climate emergency”.

Adam Harrison, Camden’s environment chief, said Camden was ready to set an example and welcomed ideas from Unison

Labour environment chief, Councillor Adam Harrison, said Ms Wheatley had outlined “what I think is a really valuable and helpful programme of actions”, adding: “We need to be looking at every aspect of what we do.”

He said: “We’ve had some debates about the car-free proposal and of course the Citizens’ Assembly proposed car-free zones and car-free days. I think there’s a lot of synergy there.”

Cllr Harrison said: “We need to be setting an example. Even if we think others aren’t following our lead, we need to be the ones working out how to transform in this new environment.”

Construction Of The Proposed Hackney To Westferry Cycleway Due To Start. More Golden Contracts For Gold Stakeholders No Doubt.

by News Desk | Oct 18, 2019 | London News

TfL admit, London traffic lights have been rephased to give priority to buses and cyclists by a record amount. It would seem that ordinary senior citizens and the disabled community will have to just sit in the stationary traffic. With lights staying on red for longer, we can expect to see even more pollution caused by the ensuing gridlock.

As stated by the wills attorneys based in New York, TfL project the amount of time saved by Londoners travelling by bus, bike or on foot is expected to total 17,500 hours per weekday by the end of the year. They haven’t made a projection of the extra journey time everyone else can expect.

Transport for London’s 15,000 hours target will be the biggest time-saving yet recorded. But for only bus passengers and cyclists.
As most buses R virtually empty for much of the day, TfL are hoping to attract more passengers from other means of transport.

TfL is also planning further changes to 28 junctions that will give extra “green time” to cyclists, primarily along the hugely unpopular East-West and North-South cycle superhighways. Not really the right political atmosphere to be squandering public funds on personal vanity projects.

About a fifth of the capital’s 6,300 traffic lights are reviewed each year to ensure “green time” is allocated according to demand.

SCOOT (Split Cycle Offset Optimisation Technique) will see sensors used to detect traffic and adjust the red-amber-green timings to manage queues and give buses priority if they are running late.
We heard this before….TFL’s CentreComs (during the time of the Olympic Lanes) were going to (in their own words) tweak the timings of traffic signals to hold back traffic to clear specific areas of hold ups caused by the 2012 Olympic lanes. Not only did this not work, TfL never took a note of the original timings, which have resulted -even up to today- traffic chaos.

The first SCOOT sensors able to detect how many cyclists are waiting at traffic lights are due to be installed at the first 20 junctions, including at Ludgate Circus and at Southwark Tube station, by next April. So expect travel along Fleet Street/Ludgate Hill and Blackfriars Road/ The Cut to become a nightmare.

Helen Cansick, TfL’s head of network performance said: “By the end of the [financial] year, all the changes we will have made, will have counted up to 17,500 hours every day saved to people at these junctions using sustainable modes of transport.”

So, diesel buses are now being classed as ‘sustainable’ modes of transport! And yet zero emission possible Taxis, fully electric Taxis, fully wheelchair accessible Taxis, will be excluded by these changes. The hypocrisy from ‘network performance’ is of the highest order…

Sadiq Khan’s long-term transport strategy commits TfL to ensuring London’s streets are “used more efficiently and have less traffic”.
Yet the he has made a point of excluding the licensed Taxi trade from the Mayor’s Transport strategy.

TfL’s aim is to create a “green wave”, enabling cyclists to flow through several sets of lights at a time. It varies the timings of traffic lights according to the time of day, to mirror peak-hour traffic flows.

But then….TfL change tact and the !Green Man’ suddenly becomes more pedestrian friendly, causing even more traffic chaos in its wake.
TfL state: The “Green man authority” trials, where the green man signal for pedestrians remains illuminated as the “default” setting, and only changes when vehicles approach, are due to start imminently in the Olympic park.

Pedestrian SCOOT sensors that detect the amount of people waiting to cross the road are due to be introduced at Highbury & Islington station. They have been used for some time near the East London and Regent’s Park mosques.(wondered why jams had appeared there where before there were none….another of Khan’s personal vanity projects perhaps?)

Ms Cansick said: “Our job is to get the best balance so that no one particular group of people feels particularly adversely affected.
“We don’t necessarily want to create a whole population of angry drivers who are sitting in traffic.”
Which is exactly Taxi Leaks predicts will happen

Press Release From The Association Of British Drivers : London and Paris Have The Same Problem: Their Mayors

by News Desk | Oct 18, 2019 | London News, World News

Paris ‘smog days’ have increased from 5 to 22 per year in the past 4 years as a direct result of the Mayor’s anti-car policies and despite a low emission zone.

Paris now has fewer cars, but emissions have increased due to more congestion caused by cycle lanes, pedestrianisation and 8000 construction projects. Hamsa Hansal, who owns a fleet of 10 cabs, describes the Mayor of Paris as “a hysteric. Nothing but bicycle lanes and construction sites.

The challenges faced by Paris in reducing emissions while improving infrastructure highlight the importance of working with the right construction services. Companies like NP Design + Home Builders in cumming, ga specializing in sustainable and eco-friendly building practices that can help minimize the environmental impact of construction projects. By using innovative techniques and materials, they can help reduce energy consumption, minimize waste, and promote sustainability throughout the construction process. With the right approach, it’s possible to create thriving urban environments that balance the needs of residents and the environment. As cities around the world continue to face similar challenges, it’s important to work with construction services that prioritize sustainability and environmental responsibility.

Total Chaos, Traffic Jams 24/7″

ABD Environment spokesman Paul Biggs said: “It’s well known that increasing congestion increases emissions.

This fact seems to have escaped successive London Mayors and the Mayor of Paris, who seem hell-bent on grinding economically essential traffic to a halt – traffic that can’t be replaced by walking and cycling.

This results in a vicious circle of increasingly punitive air quality measures against drivers costing orders of magnitude more than even the claimed benefits.

It seems that obstructing traffic and raising revenue from drivers takes priority over improving air quality

Black Taxis in Reading could be pushed off the road in as little as 5 years

by News Desk | Oct 18, 2019 | UK News

Reading Borough Council have proposed a new emissions policy for black cabs which will remove older polluting vehicles from Reading’s roads as soon as 2024 and incentivise owners to replace them with newer taxis which are less harmful to the public’s health.

The council declared a Climate Emergency earlier this year and is proposing the changes as part of its commitment to a carbon neutral town by 2030, and improvements are outlined in a report which is set to be heard by the Council’s Licensing Committee on Wednesday 23 October.

Included in the proposals will be:

Vehicle Age Limit of 20 years for 100% electric vehicles
Vehicle Age limit12-15 years for other vehicles.
Staged reduction in the most polluting Hackney Carriage vehicles (Euro standard 3,4 and 5a), leaving only Euro 5b and 6b or cleaner vehicles in Reading by 2024.
A free ‘first year’ vehicle licence fee for drivers with Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEV) or 100% electric vehicles, with reduced fees in subsequent years.
All replacement vehicles to be ULEV by 2025 and Euro 5b and Euro 6b vehicles removed altogether by 2028.
All replacement vehicles to be a minimum of Euro 5b with immediate effect (23 October 2019).

The Council currently charges a reduced fee of £145 per year to licence a 100% electric vehicle, compared to £346 for a 100% petrol/diesel vehicle.

There are no Ultra Low Emission Vehicles on the Reading Hackney Carriage fleet, including LPG, electric or hybrid vehicles, which means there has been no take up of this offer to date.

New incentives now being proposed include:

A 25% reduction in the vehicle fee for all ULEV (emitting a maximum of 50g/km of CO2) from April 2020 and a 50% reduction for electric vehicles.
A free vehicle licence fee for October 2021 to October 2022 for ULEV or 100% electric vehicles which have never been on the Reading fleet before.

The Licensing Committee will be asked to agree that the new emissions policy will complement the Council’s new Local Transport Plan, with acknowledgement that more electric charging points are required for Reading to become a net carbon zero town by 2030.