Bristol taxi drivers are being offered subsidies of more than £3,000 if they buy electric and ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEV) that will help improve the city’s air quality.
Bristol City Council is offering a package of incentives made possible by a successful funding bid of £449,500 from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). 
As a result, it hopes up to 100 Hackney Carriage owners will make the switch to a ULEV.
If the scheme, which was announced this week during a taxi conference at City Hall, is fully subscribed it would slash emissions across the whole taxi fleet by 20% – easing the city’s air quality problem.
City Council figures show around 300 deaths a year are linked to air pollution in Bristol.
The incentives are being offered over five years and total £3,635 per proprietor, which will cover subsidies for a number of fees required for operating a taxi in Bristol.
Cabinet member for transport Cllr Mhairi Threlfall said: “It is great news that we were successful in our bid for government funding, which will allow us to help our taxi drivers to buy electric vehicles and reduce pollution in the city.
“Hackney Carriage taxis play an important role in Bristol’s public transport system, often providing trips that are difficult to replace by other modes of transport, such as trips for elderly and disabled people.
“However, frequent travel in the central area and higher level of idling means that they do also make a significant contribution to the current unacceptable levels of air pollution in the city, which we are determined to reduce.
“We also realise that running a business often involves juggling lots of different costs, so this scheme of financial subsidies will make it much easier for our taxi drivers to make an immediate difference to our air quality by switching to electric or low emission vehicles.”
The subsidy announcement coincides with the current implementation of a vehicle licensing policy aimed at improving vehicle emissions that requires between 250 and 300 Hackney Carriages to be ULEVs or fitted with Euro VI standard engines, which is the best environmental standard available.
