No one near the top of the waiting list for taxi licences in the City is interested in taking up the Councils offer of one of the 10 new licences which are available.
The increase in licences (which includes the reallocation of some given up by people leaving the trade) was agreed in 2022.
There are currently 180 people on the taxi licence waiting list in York
The main issue seems to be that the Council is very restrictive in what vehicles it will now licence.
They must be both wheelchair accessible and have very low emission levels.
Unfortunately such vehicles are expensive and, in one or two cases, have questionable reliability.
Some of the compliant cars are viewed as uncomfortable by non wheelchair passengers while some of the van based vehicles can be difficult for elderly people to access.
Electric taxi range is around 130 miles and the limited number of chargers available may be a further barrier. Many taxis are in use -with different drivers – for up to 18 hours a day. There is an opportunity to provide charging facilities at some ranks, with the proposed station forecourt remodeling an obvious early priority.
The York Council is now planning to approach everyone on the waiting list and will allocate a licence to those who have been registered the longest. Those who decline to submit a bid may go to the bottom of the list.
There will be a strict time limit on the process although the report, to a meeting next week, fails to list the current delivery timescales for compliant vehicles. .
We can’t help feeling that, in a commendable attempt to address both disability access issues and pollution concerns, the Council may have come up with an unworkable set of restrictions. Taxi owners can face challenging financial hurdles and many – at a time of high interest rates – may feel unable to make the initial investment of between £31,000 and £63,000 in a complaint vehicle.
The purpose designed LEVC TX taxi costs £63,000 but it does benefit from a range extender engine so journeys of over 300 miles are possible.
While the Council strugges to address this conundrum, taxi users may face extended queuing times.
York News Focus 
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