The Council is conducting one of its periodic surveys to discover whether there is any unmet demand for taxis in the City.
The City currently has 183 taxis and 576 private hire vehicles.
Although the Council points to poor air quality standards as being partly the result of the use of diesel engines in the City Centre, most of these emissions can be traced to commercial vehicles and buses rather than taxis.
However there is a growing demand from some residents who want to have the option of using a low emission Prius + type hire vehicle.
Prius taxi
They are an increasingly common sight on the streets of New York
In York, getting a taxi at peak times can be difficult. However, taxi owners point to periods of the day when they are lucky to get a fare of any sort.
You can take part in the survey by clicking here
The Council has provided the following background information
Hackney carriage vehicles, more commonly known as ‘Taxis’ (and will be referred to as ‘Taxis’ throughout this consultation), can use designated taxi ranks, be hailed/flagged down in the street and have a roof light indicating that they are a ‘TAXI’.
Private hire vehicles can only be used if they are pre booked through an operator. They cannot use taxi ranks or be hailed/flagged down in the street. All vehicles must display door signage giving details of their operator.
York has a problem with traffic pollution. This pollution causes health problems, often to the most vulnerable (the elderly, children, those with breathing problems). Diesel vehicles are some of the worst polluters. We can reduce this pollution and poor health through low emission vehicles (e.g. electric-hybrids, all electric, bio-methane fuelled, CNG, LNG or LPG fuelled vehicles). Low emission vehicles can also reduce fuel and running costs.
Taxi licensing law currently allows councils, if they wish, to restrict the number of licences issued to vehicles. We do restrict the number of licences issued. To justify restricting the number of licences an ‘unmet demand’ survey is carried out every three years. The last survey (in 2011), identified no significant unmet demand. We currently licence 183 taxis, 45 of which must be wheelchair accessible.
Private hire vehicle licensing law does not permit councils to restrict the number of licences issued to vehicles. We currently licence 576 private hire vehicles.