Impact of new air quality regulations on private hire drivers in London

Running head: RESEARCH ENQUIRY
RESEARCH ENQUIRY
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

1RESEARCH ENQUIRY
Table of Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................2
1.1 Identification of researchable topic.......................................................................................2
1.2 Importance of the problem.....................................................................................................2
1.2 Aim of the research project....................................................................................................4
2. Research Objectives and Research Questions.............................................................................5
2.1 Research objectives...............................................................................................................5
2.2 Research questions.................................................................................................................5
3. Literature Review........................................................................................................................6
3.1 Degrading air quality and the regulation in London..............................................................6
3.2 Impact of the new regulations on the private car drivers in London.....................................7
4. Methodology................................................................................................................................9
4.1 Research Design, Research approach and Research Type....................................................9
4.1.1 Research Philosophy.......................................................................................................9
4.1.2 Research Approach.........................................................................................................9
4.1.3 Research Design.............................................................................................................9
4.1.4 Data Collection process................................................................................................10
4.1.5 Timetable......................................................................................................................10
4.2 Rationale..............................................................................................................................12
5. Access to Data and Research Ethics..........................................................................................13
5.1 Access to Data.....................................................................................................................13
5.2 Research Ethics....................................................................................................................13
6. Limitations.................................................................................................................................13
References......................................................................................................................................14

2RESEARCH ENQUIRY
Topic: Impact of new air quality related regulations (ULEZ) on private hire drivers in
London
1. Introduction
1.1 Identification of researchable topic
Academic significance of topic area is based on the relevance of the different current
environmental protection based regulations and the manner in which it affects the interests of the
common people. The research will help in delineating the impact of the ULEZ on the private car
drivers in London. On the other hand, the imposition of the regulations has affected the business
enterprises, which provide rental car services in accordance to the needs of the Londoners. The
imposition of the different penalties has restricted the operations of the private car driver in the
region.
1.2 Importance of the problem
The decreasing rate of air quality has been a concern all around the world, which has
resulted to the development of different environmental protection policies. The diverse range of
policies that are framed by the environmental protection agencies ahs helped in monitoring and
controlling the degradation of the air quality. On the other hand, it was also noted that the
imposition of different protective and conservative regulations affected the lifestyle of the
people. Beevers et al. (2016) stated that the imposition of the ULEZ and the propositions made
by Transport for London (TfL) related to the Congestion Charge exemption for private hire
vehicles (PHVs) has helped in the growth of the private cars. Therefore, it might be stated that
the new proposition has helped the government in adhering to the sustainable operations.

3RESEARCH ENQUIRY
The Londoners aimed at reducing the air pollution and thereby protecting public health
through the regulation. The different changes that are made in the regulations are dependent on
promoting the green approach of conservation and sustainability. Drummond and Ekins (2016)
stated that the development of the regulation has helped in the growth of the private hire vehicles
as the Cleaner Vehicle Discount encouraged and motivated the same to develop resources for
maintaining the sustainability standards. The development of the amended policies ands
regulations has helped in encouraging the drivers to bring forth changes in the vehicles for
supporting the sustainable approach towards reduction of air pollution and enhancement of the
air quality. Laybourn-Langton, Quilter-Pinner and Ho (2016) stated that the initial Congestion
charges that were applied in the zone affected the transportation system by 15%. The major aim
of the government and the environmental protection agencies was to minimize the rate of air
pollution in the region, which has led the same to bring forth subtle modification. In this relation,
the changes in the regulations has encouraged the involvement of the community and the private
car drivers in the sustainable measures for diminishing the rate of air pollutants in the air.
A research conducted by the TfL indicated that the removal of the PHV Congestion
Charge exemption will be helping to reduce the number of PHVs in the region, which will not
only minimize the rate of congestion but also effectively reduce the rate of air pollution in the
region (Moody and Tate 2017). However, the measure will be affecting the interests of the PHV
drivers due to lower amount of intervention in the different regions. Kirby (2016) stated that the
reduced rate of PHVs in the region would help in reducing the rate of air pollutants and toxic
emission in the region resulting to suitable measures for maintaining the sustainability of the
people living in the region. The imposition of strict legislations has affected the interests of the
private car drivers while operating in the diverse fields. On the other hand, it has been noted that