The Department for Transport has issued a call for evidence asking for information and views on 3 areas of the ‘Future of transport regulatory review’ including taxis and private hire.

The call for evidence seeks views on a number of things including:

• whether certain micromobility vehicles (such as electric scooters) should be permitted on the road, and if so what vehicle and user requirements would be appropriate
• how effective existing rules are around flexible bus services, and which other areas of the bus, taxi and private hire vehicle framework should be considered in this review

Whilst the bulk of the review and call for evidence relates to bus services, there are numerous references to taxis and private hire services.  Most notably the paper states:

“The call for evidence response will also inform further work looking at how the bus, taxi and PHV regimes are converging and what legislative framework might be appropriate in future. We would be interested in respondents’ views on what areas of the bus, taxi and PHV framework we should consider in future stages of the regulatory review.”

The DfT specifically sought views and evidence on “How else, in your view, can the Government support innovation in the bus, taxi and PHV sectors?”