TAXIS not up to green standards could be barred from using bus lanes in a move to tackle air pollution in Southampton.

The potential move is part of a series of possible measures under Southampton City Council's new Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP).

A council report backed by the ruling Labour cabinet suggested the city should restrict bus lane use to try and push taxi and private hire drivers to improve their vehicles.

"It is recognised that there is scope to use bus lane restrictions as an opportunity to encourage and incentivise cleaner vehicles as we have done already with out-of-town taxis via Euro standards," a council spokesperson said.

"This could be extended to consider stricter standards and be aligned with advances in vehicle technology."

Vehicles are given a Euro standard based on their emissions.

READ MORE: Southampton bus lane rules brought in for out-of-city taxis

Council chiefs believe the bus lane move - one of 60 detailed in a report - will help improve air quality and reduce the number of deaths linked to air pollution. 

In Southampton, one in 20 deaths of those 30 and older is caused by bad air. 

The chairman of the Southampton Hackney Organisation, Sam Shahid, said: "This is brilliant for the city as we all want a greener, cleaner, and safer city."

Speaking at last month's cabinet meeting about the update air quality plan, Cllr Lisa Mitchell said the previous plan "brought about some real improvement to air quality in our city".

She added: "I think this will go on and go further to do that. 

"We need to always be improving the air quality in our city because it's a health issue and an environmental issue. 

"You can never have the best air quality in the world, there are always improvements to be had."

She said the improvements will boost residents' health.

Under the council's proposals, vehicles with lower emissions can "potentially" receive reduced parking charges. 

At the AQAP meeting, a spokesperson for the council said: "This has not been fully developed and finalised yet. 

"At this stage, the Air Quality Action Plan is being presented to the cabinet for approval before new measures are fully developed and implemented." 

As reported, the city council last year announced that out-of-city taxis would no longer be able to use bus lanes in the city other than during peak times.

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