The Mayor has finally admitted that a £1m fund to promote ‘low emission taxis’ is not going to be used to build electric or hydrogen taxis. This is despite several public statements since December 2009, stating that such a fund existed and many answers to Assembly members’ questions which stated, or implied, that such a fund was in existence. The £1m fund never appeared in any of the Transport for London financial reports.
In October of last year, the Mayor started stating that the fund was dependent upon sponsorship. He also dropped all mention of electric taxis and said that funding subsidies would be directed towards helping black cab drivers switch to the cleanest vehicles on the market (which are diesel driven). A statement on this was due before January 2012, when the 15 age limit rule came into effect, but no announcement has yet been made.
Darren Johnson said:
"The Mayor’s million pound fund for electric taxis has never materialised, despite it appearing in several Mayoral press statements during the last two years. It has become an often repeated myth which the Mayor has used to grab headlines. Boris Johnson is all spin and hype when it comes to electric taxis and doing something to protect Londoner’s health from the city’s appalling air pollution. The Mayor has let down Londoners and he has let down London’s taxi drivers."
