Council reacts to Sheffield’s bid for share of £20m plug-in taxi fund

On Thursday (23 July 2015), eight cities received a huge boost in their bid to win part of a £20m fund to increase the number of plug-in taxis.

The eight potential winning schemes will all be provided with a government-backed study into supplying more environmentally-friendly travel opportunities in their area.

Each study will collect information into how local authorities could use the money to reduce the upfront cost of purpose-built taxis and install charging infrastructure for taxi and private hire use.

The government will announce the winning schemes in April 2016.

Andrew Jones, Transport Minister, said: “Plug-in taxis are cheaper to run, better for the environment and an example of Britain leading the way in an innovative industry. That is why government is investing £500m in low emission vehicles over the next 5 years to make them an accessible and affordable choice for all.

“These cities have shown they are commitment to adopting greener technology and the government is backing their ambition by showing the benefits a share of £20m of funding could deliver.”

The eight studies, each backed by £30k of government funding, will be independently carried out by the Energy Saving Trust (EST).

Following the government’s announcement shortlisting Sheffield for a share of the £20 million plug-in taxi prize, Councillor Terry Fox, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport said:

“We are very pleased to have reached the shortlist of bidders for this £20 million scheme to improve emission levels from our local black taxi cabs. The Government will now fund the feasibility studies over the next nine months for each of the eight remaining local authorities to carry out a detailed study on how this could work and reduce emissions from the taxis.

“We were keen to pursue this scheme as part of our aim to reduce emission levels and improve local air quality. We are also working with local businesses and partners running the bus and commercial vehicle fleets in Sheffield to tackle the issues around emission levels in the city.”