Greater Manchester Clean Air Zone: What Taxi and Private Hire Driver Need to Know
This week saw number plate recognition cameras being installed across Greater Manchester in readiness for the new Clean Air Zone (CAZ). The new CAZ is set to be introduced on the 30th May 2022 and is touted as being one of the largest zones of its type in Europe. This comes after all ten Greater Manchester local authorities approved the Clean Air Plan including the ‘Category C’ charging CAZ.
The CAZ will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week and includes most local roads in Grater Manchester. As the introduction of the CAZ nears, taxi and private hire vehicle (PHVs) drivers and operators have understandably got plenty of questions about how this will affect them. Below we’ve covered some of the most frequently asked questions
Which vehicles will be charged?
Vehicles will be charged based on whether they produce emissions lower than the emission standards set out in the government’s Clean Air Zone Framework. This includes buses and HGV’s, LGV’s, private vehicles, coaches and taxis and private hire vehicles.
Coaches, taxis and private hire vehicles are currently planned to be exempt for the first twelve months so will only be subject to the charge from 1 June 2023. However, this exemption has received much criticism since it was announced so it is unclear whether or not the exemption will be cancelled or not.
How Much Will It Cost?
The following taxi and private hire vehicles will pay a daily charge of £7.50 to travel in the Greater Manchester Clean Air Zone from 30 May 2022:
Hackney carriages and PHVs which that aren't licensed with a Greater Manchester local authority with a Euro 5 or earlier diesel engine (usually registered before 2016).
All hackney carriages and PHVs that aren’t licensed with a Greater Manchester local authority with a Euro 3 or earlier petrol engine (usually registered before 2005).
As mentioned, Hackney carriages and PHVs which are licensed with a Greater Manchester local authority will receive a temporary exemption to 31 May 2023. These vehicles would pay a proposed daily charge of £7.50 to travel in the Greater Manchester Clean Air Zone from 1 June 2023:
All hackney carriages and PHVs with a Euro 5 or earlier diesel engine (usually registered before 2016)
All hackney carriages and PHVs with a Euro 3 or earlier petrol engine (usually registered before 2005)
Unpaid charges would result in liability to pay a Penalty Charge Notice of £120 in addition to the unpaid daily charge (reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days.
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) also provide a vehicle checker where you can check whether your vehicle will be charged. You could find it here.
Is There Any Funding Available?
There is £120 million worth of funding available. Applications are open for financial support until November 2021. This support will be available to help replace or retrofit non-compliant vehicles. TfGM recommends signing up to the CleanAirGM newsletter to be the first to know about updates. You can sign up here.
To keep up to date with TaxiPlus’ reporting on industry events, make sure you follow us on social media! We’ll also be diving into this topic on next month’s episode of our podcast, ‘What time you on ‘til?’, you can check it out here.
For more info about how our licensing solutions can help you, get in touch! You can give us a call on 01254 355679 or drop us an email at hello@taxiplus.co.uk