Diesel taxi drivers urged to switch
DRIVERS of ageing diesel cabs will be given cash incentives to switch to ultra-low emission and hybrid vehicles.
It comes after Fareham Borough Council secured £150,000 in government cash in a bid to improve air quality on the A27 and the A32.
The grant will fund a scheme spanning Fareham and Gosport – encouraging the borough’s 370 licensed diesel taxi drivers to replace their cabs with ultra-low emission or hybrid vehicles.
Richard Jolley, director of planning and regulation at Fareham Borough Council, said: ‘Improving our air quality is one of our key priorities as we recognise the difference air quality makes to health.
‘By encouraging taxi owners in Fareham and Gosport to switch to cleaner vehicles we can reduce the harmful emissions which will benefit residents in both boroughs.’
The funding award for the drive was made the Joint Air Quality Unit of the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Fareham Borough Council follows a number of authorities across the country to offer such a replacement scheme.