What do London’s cab drivers have to say about climate action?
Jump to: [What we learned] [Why is this important?] [Get involved]
At Possible, we’re often talking about the need to cut car use. From a climate perspective, it’s a no brainer - transport is the biggest source of UK emissions, and cars are the biggest contributor to transport emissions. As a climate charity, it’s no surprise that we are avid supporters of anything that helps more people swap driving for active travel and public transport.
But what about people who drive for a living? Taxis are very much part of even our boldest visions for a zero-carbon UK - if anything, they’ll be more important than they are now as far fewer people will have their own car. But cab drivers are also at risk of being disadvantaged by policies aimed at reducing cars in cities if we do this the wrong way. So, if we’re going to decarbonise our transport system, we need to do this right.
We teamed up with the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association (LTDA) to learn about London’s taxi drivers’ views on climate action in the city. Together, we polled 2,000 cab drivers in London to find out what they think about the switch to greener vehicles and efforts to reduce car use in the city.
Here’s what we learned:
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London’s taxi drivers are already switching to cleaner, diesel-free vehicles - 2/3rds of the city’s licensed taxis are zero-emission capable.
Our survey showed that:
90% of those who have made the switch, prefer their petrol range-extended electric taxi over their previous diesel taxi.
52% saying that their running costs have gone down since switching.
Nearly half (47%) said their health and wellbeing has improved since making the switch, compared to only 5% who said it had worsened.
Licensed taxi driver, Mohamed Abdi says:
“We all want to breathe clean air, live healthier, and for the city to be greener. That’s why I drive a green cab.
“I was one of the first drivers to switch to an electric cab with the help of a government grant, and driving an electric cab has been fantastic and cleaner for the environment and for me. An electric cab is absolutely the way forward, as long as they are affordable for people.”
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Our survey showed that 90% of London’s licensed taxi drivers want fewer cars on the road.
Some people might assume that cab drivers are against speed cameras, cycle lanes and pedestrianisation. But actually it stands to reason that they want calmer roads as much as the rest of us do. Quieter roads means faster journeys which means more fares.
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Our survey showed that cab drivers in London want the UK government to take meaningful action to support more taxi drivers to make the switch to cleaner cars.
London’s black-cab drivers are keen to ditch their diesel vehicles, but buying a taxi that runs on electricity would cost them more than £73,000, and there is currently very little financial support available for cabbies who want to make the switch.
Until recently, licensed taxi drivers were supported to make the switch to electric; they could make use of a funded scrappage scheme and lower borrowing costs when purchasing electric vehicles. This support no longer exists.
Transport for London’s new strategy is to only give new licences to electric vehicles, and just wait until the remaining diesel cabs to come off the road. This means that, once their twelve-year legal lifespan comes to an end, cab drivers of diesel taxis are now forced to either shell out for new electric taxis or stop being cabbies altogether.
Mohamed Abdi says:
“All cab drivers should be able to get a green cab, but right now it’s just not possible for so many of my colleagues. They need that support to switch.”
Why is this survey important?
At Possible, we want to see a zero carbon society built by and for everyone in the UK, and that means working with taxi drivers for a just transition.
Taxi drivers have to drive cars for work for a living, and as such, they are key stakeholders in policies aiming to reduce car use. London taxi drivers, for example, are self-employed, but highly regulated by Transport for London - this makes their work more precarious and vulnerable to new regulations, as they depend on TfL for their individual licences. So since 2024 we’ve been working with LDTA to bring together taxi drivers as advocates for clean air and climate action.
The survey results are clear – taxi drivers want less traffic and cleaner taxis, both of which will enable them to continue their livelihoods while looking after Londoners’ health by cleaning up the air we breathe.
This survey provides evidence to support the change we need to see - with these results, politicians can see that cab drivers are keen to switch to electric vehicles - implementing government support to help them make the switch would be popular and effective.
Getting diesel off London’s streets is absolutely critical for Londoners’ health and wellbeing, and for the climate. With the support of London’s black-cab drivers, we now need the government and local authorities to get on with traffic reduction and getting diesel off our streets, rather than kicking these problems further down the road.