Impact of New Air Quality Regulation on Private Drivers

Running head: IMPACT OF NEW AIR QUALITY REGULATION ON PRIVATE DRIVERS
IMPACT OF NEW AIR QUALITY REGULATION ON PRIVATE DRIVERS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1IMPACT OF NEW AIR QUALITY REGULATION ON PRIVATE DRIVERS
Table of Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................2
1.1 Problem identification...........................................................................................................2
1.2 Problem statement.................................................................................................................2
1.3 Aim of the research................................................................................................................3
1.4 Research objectives...............................................................................................................3
1.5 Research questions.................................................................................................................3
Literature Review............................................................................................................................4
4. Methodology..............................................................................................................................10
4.1 Research Design, Research Approach and Research Type.................................................10
4.1.1 Research Philosophy.....................................................................................................10
4.1.2 Research Approach:......................................................................................................11
4.1.3 Research Design...........................................................................................................12
4.1.4 Research strategy..........................................................................................................12
4.1.5 Data Collection process................................................................................................12
4.2 Rationale..............................................................................................................................13
5. Access to Data Research Ethics.................................................................................................14
5.1 Access to Data.....................................................................................................................14
5.2 Research Ethics....................................................................................................................14
6. Limitations.................................................................................................................................14

2IMPACT OF NEW AIR QUALITY REGULATION ON PRIVATE DRIVERS
Results............................................................................................................................................15
Thematic Analysis.....................................................................................................................15
Theme 1: The need for better regulation to curb the air pollution levels across London......15
Theme 2: The implications of the ULEZ on the environment and transport industry..........16
Theme 3: The implications of ULEZ on the private hire drivers in London.........................17
Theme 4: Future implications of the ULEZ on PHV drivers................................................18
Summary................................................................................................................................19
Analysis.........................................................................................................................................19
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................22
Recommendations..........................................................................................................................24
References......................................................................................................................................27

3IMPACT OF NEW AIR QUALITY REGULATION ON PRIVATE DRIVERS
1. Introduction
1.1 Problem identification
The focus of the study is to effectively analyze the effect of the ULEZ air quality
regulations on the private hire drivers of London. The issue is considered as it can have far
reaching impact on the professional lives of the drivers in London. ULEZ refers to the Ultra-Low
Emission Zones. These zones would be managed under the standards of ultra-low emissions
where vehicles would need to comply with the set standards for emissions or pay a daily charge
to go through these areas. The area that is considered within ULEZ comprises of a significant
area within the city of London. The implications of the same are very important points of
discussion.
1.2 Problem statement
Around the world, the decreasing rate of quality of air has become a major concern. In
major cities like London this issue increases more in significance. In order to control decreasing
air quality, the ULEZ regulations have been established. They are aimed towards the effective
control and positive improvement of air quality in and around some of the areas that have the
least air quality. However, the implementation of the regulations can also have far reaching
impact on the lifestyle of the people of London. The ULEZ has given rise to growing concern
among a number of private hire vehicles in the city. In the first place congestion charges that
were to be changed to the private hire vehicles (PHVs). However, these charge exemptions are
going to be removed to reduce the number of PHVs in the London region. This can bring down
congestion and pollution to a great extent but can be detrimental for the interests of the PHV
drivers. ULEZ discounts will only be provided to the vehicles that meet the standards of euro 5.
However, there are still many vehicles that do not meet these standards. The problem becomes

4IMPACT OF NEW AIR QUALITY REGULATION ON PRIVATE DRIVERS
important as there can be diverse impacts of the entire issue on the PHV drivers in London. The
various causes of the regulation and the impact it can have over the drivers need to be found. The
sustainability value that can be generated without completely limiting the interests of the drivers
is subsequently an important aspect to be understood.
1.3 Aim of the research
The principal aim of the study is to find the impact of the new ULEZ air quality
regulations on the drivers of private hire vehicles in London.
1.4 Research objectives
 To understand the issues that are faced due to degrading air quality
 To examine the manner in which new air pollution based regulation affected the interests
of the private car drivers
 To identify the relationship between ULEZ and its impact on the private car drivers in
London
 To suggest recommended activities that might be undertaken by the private car drivers in
London for adhering to ULEZ
1.5 Research questions
 What are the issues that are faced due to the degrading air quality and the context of the
regulation?
 How the new air pollution based regulation didaffected the interests of the private car
drivers?
 What is the relationship between ULEZ and the private car drivers in London?

5IMPACT OF NEW AIR QUALITY REGULATION ON PRIVATE DRIVERS
 What are the recommended activities that might be undertaken by the private car drivers
in London for adhering to ULEZ?
Literature Review
The past literatures have been helpful in determining the various factors that tend to
affect the drivers of private hire vehicles. The new air pollution based regulations have enhanced
the capability of the country for supporting the sustainable needs. The new ULEZ policies are
focused towards helping Londoners improve the quality of air and providing essential protection
to the health aspects of the public. The ULEZ has been effective in reducing the emission levels
in the specific areas where they have been implemented (Green, Heywood and Navarro Paniagua
2018).Moreover, there has been improvement in the green emissions in the vicinity of the city.
This has contributed towards the overall improvement in the environment of the area. The
agencies that are in charge of maintaining the pollution quality across the city have divided the
regions to be covered into various time zones. This was part of a sustainable conservation
mechanism that was focused towards creating a better city environment. The ULEZ was one of
the most important areas in terms of reduction of emissions in the particular areas of the city. The
ULEZ had to be implemented after it was seen that nearly 60% of the population that was
suffering from cancerous diseases in the area were actually affected by the degrading air quality
of the area (Blackston and Lebar 2015). This made necessary that the government agencies
actually started charging the private cars for higher amount of emissions produced by them. This
actually contributed towards improving the air quality by significantly reducing the degradations
of air.
The private hire car drivers are affected the most due to the implementation of the ULEZ.
This is mainly because the direct effect of the Ultra-low emission zone falls on them. The

6IMPACT OF NEW AIR QUALITY REGULATION ON PRIVATE DRIVERS
regulations were put into place mainly to lower the NO2 and CO emissions from the vehicles
that operated within the city of London (Wood et al. 2017). The vehicles that are currently in use
in the city of London make emission that is definitely above the maximum level of emissions
that is permissible for vehicles as per the ULEZ oriented regulations. One of the more obvious
issues that can affect the drivers are increased cost of operations of the vehicles. This would
eventually lead to lesser financial gains by the PHV drivers (Blythe 2018). This can potentially
risk their livelihood. The PHV businesses are definitely due to suffer initial losses or lower
profitability (Green, Heywood and Navarro Paniagua 2018). It has been found there can be risks
involved in case of hybrid cars in view of the ULEZ. It becomes much necessary that incentives
are implemented to support the PHVs that are hybrid petrol. According to Cruz and Montenon
(2016) freight vehicles can be greatly affected as ULEZ would limit the access of freight
vehicles to the various zones. However, similarly the access of the PHVs would also be limited
depending upon the model and emission levels of the vehicles. In this case the private car drivers
that will be the most affected would be the drivers that have older vehicles. Older vehicles tend
to make more emissions than the newer ones. It is important to note that the financial conditions
of the older PHV drivers are much less stable than the newer drivers.
Given this understanding of the situation the government has to implement ULEZ in
ways that can support the drivers of the older model cars. One of the important factors that can
be induced due to the implementation of the ULEZ is the growth in demand of electronic taxis.
These are electronic vehicles that run on electricity rather than conventional forms of fuel.
However, the major problem that affects the drivers in this case is their inability to bear the
initial costs that might be connected with the buying of these new electronic vehicles. If the
initial cost for buying electronic vehicles are considered, it becomes very difficult for the average

7IMPACT OF NEW AIR QUALITY REGULATION ON PRIVATE DRIVERS
PHV driver to afford these vehicles. Hence, given the situational factors that are influencing the
drivers in this case buying electronic vehicles are not favorable. Additionally, shifting to
electronic vehicles has not been considered as a feasible option in financial or operational terms.
Drivers might need to be effectively trained on driving these vehicles. Thus, a much better option
is to coordinate with the government to understand the needs of the PHV drivers. An important
factor is the provision of the cleaner vehicle discount. However, the charge exemptions are to be
removed to reduce the number of PHVs in the London region. This can bring down congestion
and pollution to a great extent but can be detrimental for the interests of the PHV drivers. ULEZ
discounts will only be provided to the vehicles that meet the standards of euro 5. There are still
many vehicles that do not meet these standards. The problem becomes important as there can be
diverse impacts of the entire issue on the PHV drivers in London (Russell-Jones2017). The
various causes of the regulation and the impact it can have over the drivers need to be found. The
sustainability value that can be generated without completely limiting the interests of the drivers
is subsequently an important aspect to be understood. In doing so the interest of the drivers
cannot be overlooked. London is one of the busiest cities in the world and an important
economic center for entire Europe. The importance of transportation is hence very large.
Transportation is connected with the value that is generated for the PHV drivers. The
PHV drivers can also have a better chance to successfully change to better modes of vehicular
usage. These modes can be more energy saving as well as cause lesser emissions. In essence
vehicles need to more effective in terms of performance concerning the regulations of ULEZ.
This can cause the drivers to be stronger in terms of the long term benefits that they can receive.
The discount that was provided initially to encourage the sustainability practices among the car
drives were later announced to be cancelled (Beevers et al. 2016). The discounts actually