Mothers of young children are urging Sadiq Khan to press ahead with controversial plans to force the most polluting black taxis off London roads.
The Mums For Lungs group has joined the London Cycling Campaign in calling on the Mayor to implement proposals to ban taxis older than 12 years to tackle the capital’s toxic air crisis.
A Transport for London consultation on cutting the maximum age of the capital’s 20,000 cabs from 15 to 12 years has closed and more than 4,000 responses are now being considered.
Black cabs cause a fifth of road emissions in central London but are exempt from the congestion charge and the new ultra low emission zone.
About 12,000 cabs would not meet Ulez standards and Mr Khan believes that a lower age limit would speed their replacement with “zero-emission capable” vehicles.
Jemima Hartshorn, founder of Mums For Lungs, said: “This is a livelihood for some people and they have invested in expensive cars and licences but that needs to be dealt with in a different way … Our children cannot wait.”
But the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association says retro-fitting £3,600 exhaust filters would be cheaper than buying £67,000 electric cabs, and would give a 50 per cent greater cut in emissions and faster results than TfL’s plan.
