Liverpool City Council Rejects Conversion Taxi
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Safety and Wheelchair Access Issues
Liverpool has become the latest authority to officially refuse to accept the Allied Vehicles E7 conversion type taxis to be used on their streets.
(Click on the photo to enlarge. High resolution versions are available)
The Liverpool City Council, in support of representations from the local Taxi Trade, have decided that the Peugeot E7 conversion type taxi based on the Peugeot Expert Combi were unsuitable for use and they will continue to only licence the familiar London style taxis which are fully wheelchair accessible and purpose built as taxis to meet the current Public Carriage Office regulations.
Currently Liverpool has 1,400 licensed Hackney Carriages made up of Fairway, Metrocab, TXI and TXII models.
Allied Vehicles Limited from Glasgow, who converts the Peugeot E7 Combi vehicles into wheelchair accessible taxis, recently applied to have their taxi approved for use as a licensed taxicab within the City of Liverpool.
Members of the local Taxi trade stated they were not in support of this application on the grounds of, that an E7 has already been licensed in Liverpool as a private hire vehicle so it would be difficult for customers to differentiate between recognised Hackney Carriages and private hire vehicles. They also had concerns regarding passenger safety exiting the vehicle because of its sliding doors, the rear van type doors are not included in the central door locking system, the lack of driver visibility out of the rear windows, the E7 has a larger turning circle than the London Taxis and the E7 has a higher step height making ramp angles steeper for wheelchair passengers.
The Liverpool Council Licensing Committee supported the Taxi Trade and said that the E7 does not meet the Public Carriage Office specifications for taxis, which the City Council abides by, and the Committee has concerns over the safety issues regarding sliding doors and the use of wheelchair access ramps.
Currently the Public Carriage Office is reviewing the Condition of Fitness regulations, which apply to London style taxis following an appeal by Allied Vehicles for their E7 taxi to be allowed to be used in London. The appeal follows the Public Carriage Office's initial decision made nearly two years ago that conversion type taxis were not suitable vehicles for use as London Taxis.
Liverpool has become the latest authority to officially refuse to accept the Allied Vehicles E7 conversion type taxis to be used on their streets.
(Click on the photo to enlarge. High resolution versions are available)
The Liverpool City Council, in support of representations from the local Taxi Trade, have decided that the Peugeot E7 conversion type taxi based on the Peugeot Expert Combi were unsuitable for use and they will continue to only licence the familiar London style taxis which are fully wheelchair accessible and purpose built as taxis to meet the current Public Carriage Office regulations.
Currently Liverpool has 1,400 licensed Hackney Carriages made up of Fairway, Metrocab, TXI and TXII models.
Allied Vehicles Limited from Glasgow, who converts the Peugeot E7 Combi vehicles into wheelchair accessible taxis, recently applied to have their taxi approved for use as a licensed taxicab within the City of Liverpool.
Members of the local Taxi trade stated they were not in support of this application on the grounds of, that an E7 has already been licensed in Liverpool as a private hire vehicle so it would be difficult for customers to differentiate between recognised Hackney Carriages and private hire vehicles. They also had concerns regarding passenger safety exiting the vehicle because of its sliding doors, the rear van type doors are not included in the central door locking system, the lack of driver visibility out of the rear windows, the E7 has a larger turning circle than the London Taxis and the E7 has a higher step height making ramp angles steeper for wheelchair passengers.
The Liverpool Council Licensing Committee supported the Taxi Trade and said that the E7 does not meet the Public Carriage Office specifications for taxis, which the City Council abides by, and the Committee has concerns over the safety issues regarding sliding doors and the use of wheelchair access ramps.
Currently the Public Carriage Office is reviewing the Condition of Fitness regulations, which apply to London style taxis following an appeal by Allied Vehicles for their E7 taxi to be allowed to be used in London. The appeal follows the Public Carriage Office's initial decision made nearly two years ago that conversion type taxis were not suitable vehicles for use as London Taxis.
posted by Jon Fry at 11:15:00 PM
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