LONDON, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Some of London's famous black taxis will be electric by 2020 under an air pollution plan released Tuesday by Mayor Boris Johnson.
Under the proposal, all taxis more than 15 years old must be taken out of service in 2012, The Guardian reported Tuesday. Within a decade, all new taxis entering the fleet will be required to be electric.
While the killing fogs caused by burning coal no longer blanket London, the city has the worst air pollution problem in the Britain. Experts say more than 4,000 residents die prematurely every year from breathing the foul air.
About 80 percent of the pollution in central London comes from vehicles and a significant portion of that from the fleet of 22,000 cabs.
Johnson said his plan includes 1 million pounds ($1.6 million) to provide rebates for taxi drivers who purchase low-emission cabs and to help the industry develop "affordable zero-emission taxi capable of zero-emission operation."
Critics said Johnson should have stuck to an earlier, tougher plan that would have required all cabs to be no more than 10 years old by 2015.
