Call Sign November 2002 - Page 23 - THE DAC DRIVER AND THE GAS CONVERSION

Last year Call Sign offered Dial-a-Cab drivers the opportunity of having their taxis converted to LPG thanks to an offer by Camden Council to pay the cost, with drivers just paying the VAT. Camden told us that they were determined to help keep the air as clean as possible and that much lower emissions from taxis would be a start. Many drivers applied and we believe that around 15 actually had the conversion. Now we hear that Ken Livingstone's latest strategy regarding the air quality over London has decreed - at least if allowed to be passed - that taxis must over a period of several years, meet Euro emission standards. By now you will have read all about it in the trade papers, but here is a brief reminder. You can no longer - as of immediate effect - buy a second hand vehicle from out of town that has never been passed in London before that doesn't meet Euro III emission levels. As the TXII and Metrocab TTT are the only two taxis that qualify, that means no more out-of-towners from the Midland's taxi warehouses. Then in around 18 months from now (1st July 2004), no cab registered before 3rd December 1992 will be passed unless it meets the Euro 1 requirements by having had an expensive conversion - probably costing more than the resale value of some of the earlier models. Then we reach Phase III, which says that as of January 1st 2007, only vehicles that conform to Euro II emission levels will be passed without a conversion. That includes early models of the TXI which were originally licensed prior to 1stOctober 1998. Press Releases None of the above really surprises Call Sign, because we have said for some time that Ken Livingstone's main aim is to turn London into a bus city where commuters leave their homes and are thrilled to see their favourite bus almost passing their front door. You'll have to read the press releases in the other trade papers because TfL doesn't send any to Call Sign, perhaps because we were the only magazine not to be taken in by the Mayor's 'tariff 3' increase which we said all along would cause a drop in passengers thereby making the new licensed private hire fares appear reasonable? One press release was on the "few" new bendy bus routes that miraculously seem to have expanded very rapidly, with TfL's Head Of Buses Peter Hendy, now telling everyone that these "few" bendy bus routes can now be used on over half of all bus routes! Then there are the press releases informing readers how the Mayor's congestion charging will result in an extra 20,000 commuters each day, of whom 14,000 will be using buses. And what does TfL via our Ken propose to do? Well, for a start	THE DAC DRIVER AND THE GAS CONVERSION
	they intend putting out an additional 11,000 spaces on buses - the other 3000 prospective passengers will obviously be happy to stand! Assuming that those extra 11,000 spaces mean an extra few hundred buses, where does the extra road room come from? Get rid of a few thousand cabs perhaps? More room along Upper Street as a start? How about raising the standards under which they operate by using Euro emission limits? Any good news? Well, TAXI Newspaper have now seen the light and realised that the London Mayor is not what he at first seemed. As the largest trade organisation, Call Sign welcomes the LTDA's rethink. Remember that this is the same Mayor who tried to enforce Speedbus on us when he was head of the GLC, a route that would have enabled buses to use Tottenham Court Road as a contra-flow, with taxis joining the rest of the traffic in the remaining two lanes going north. This is the same Mayor who, before realising that he was responsible for the Upper Street Bus Lane, told radio phone-in listeners that taxis should be allowed to use the lane. Then when he realised that it was his responsibility, suddenly changed his mind. This is the same Mayor who ordered the LTDA to take down their brilliant set of "This Way for Minicabs" series of ads because it created the wrong image for his idea of a transport network. However, as he seems only to care about buses, what difference would it have made! The Assistant Commissioner of the City of London Police, Mike Bowron, recently said that it was vital that the message got out as to how potentially dangerous illegal minicabs were. Well, judging by the way the licensed taxi industry is being kicked from pillar to post by the Mayor's office, I can't think who he believes will be left to transport these unsafe passengers. The buses...? The Problems of "Chinese" Johnny... And now yet another nail in the proverbial coffin, this time involving a Dial-a-Cab driver who was one of those drivers who took the opportunity of having his early TX1 cab converted to gas and just paying the VAT (still coming to well over Ł1000). John Tsang (T90) liked the sound of the conversion idea and made enquiries. He eventually decided to go ahead after being given a test ride in a Fairway that had the new gas engine. He was delighted with the cab's performance and the savings that the Fairway made on fuel. He went back to the garage to give them the go-ahead on his TX1. What John says that he wasn't told was that the fuel tank in the Fairway was substantially	bigger that in the TX1. Consequently, he realised that although he was delighted with the TX1's new performance, the smaller tank meant that Johnny was only getting around 110 miles from a full tank as against around 240 from the Fairway. As he lives quite a way out of town, Johnny found that he could no longer accept any "roaders" for fear of not finding an LPG pump along the route. Call Sign spoke to the company that had fitted Johnny's converted engine and they told us that it was the PCO who would not allow the larger tank in the smaller TX1 boot because it would not leave enough spare room. They also told us that they would be happy to put another smaller tank into John's cab and link it to the one he had, thereby bringing his available mileage up to that of the Fairway, but that the PCO had refused to allow it. John told Call Sign that he would be happy to put his spare tyre in the front with the luggage to allow more space in the boot for an extra tank, but assumed that idea would be frowned upon - probably with good reason. PCO Response So Call Sign spoke to Dave Stock at the PCO - it is currently his responsibility to oversee the LPG situation re fitting to taxis - and his version was rather different. He explained the situation to us and assured this magazine that the PCO had put no stipulations in the way of the three current fitters of "ecologically friendly" engines. He was also concerned at the plight of drivers who had found themselves in John Tsang's position and again assured us that he had not "banned" any options from putting in an extra tank, to putting the spare wheel in the luggage compartment or even not carrying a spare provided break-down arrangements were in place. However, few drivers would want to take that risk and the spare in the front in a previous Metrocab experiment, tended to be unsuccessful. But his point was that nothing has been ruled out and that he was available to see any modifications or fittings re the gas engine. If there was no danger created, then it was quite feasible that he could look favourably at the situation. He also added - much to our surprise - that in his view, space in the boot was needed for any equipment that the driver might need and not extra luggage - leaving more room for the tank. So the news for drivers like John Tsang is better than it might have seemed, but the warning is there for those having the new engine in a TX1 - check what size tank you will get. This doesn't apply to those who have their current engine converted rather than getting a new unit, with companies such as Axiom assuring us that with an original engine conversion, the tank even in a TX1 is full size and will give the same number of miles as a diesel tank.