Stop idling!

(May 4, 2007) It’s back to school so we can expect to see the familiar sight of the school bus waiting to pick up our children. But an idling school bus is not just a nuisance; it’s also a serious health risk.

Dirty fuel means dirty air
School buses use diesel, not a particularly clean fuel. Diesel exhaust contains significant levels of fine particular matter that are invisible to the naked eye. These fine particles hang in the air to create smog and are small enough lodge into the lungs after passing through the nose and throat, where they can cause endless respiratory problems.

The EPA has determined that diesel exhaust is very likely a human carcinogen and strongly recommends that we reduce our exposure, especially for those suffering from heart or lung disease, asthma or any other respiratory disease. Children are particularly vulnerable to diesel exhaust because their respiratory systems are still developing and they breathe 50 percent more air per pound of body weight than adults.

But more than 26 million children throughout the U.S. and Canada are exposed to diesel fine particle matter on a daily basis when they head out to school. A typical school bus burns about 1.89 liters (half a gallon) of diesel for each hour it idles. That adds up to a lot of exhaust, especially when there are five to six buses lined up at a time. Compounding the problem is that the fumes also contaminate nearby playgrounds and enter the school through air intakes, doors and open windows, polluting the air students breathe while getting educated.

Healthier transportation
In response the EPA has started Clean School Bus USA and launched the National Idle-Reduction Campaign that encourages bus drivers to turn off their engines after three minutes of idling. Not many transport companies are participating in the campaign voluntarily, so the EPA also created the The Idle-Reduction Do-it-Yourself Kit with all the material students, teachers and parents need to convince their local school boards to stop or limit idling time. Brochures, posters and fact sheets have been designed to convince even the most reluctant bureaucrat and there is even a section on how to retrofit your school bus.

Students lead the way
Cynics may want to speak with the Grade 6 students at St. Jude School in Greenfield Park, Québec. After an in-class discussion on climate change and GHG emissions, students connected the dots and looked at the unnecessary idling of vehicles at their school. Soon afterwards they started a clean-up campaign, speaking to parents and teachers while compiling stats on the bus-idling problem. They presented their findings to the Riverside School Board's Superintendent of Transportation and brought their campaign to the WORLD OF SOLUTIONS exhibition at the UN Climate Change Conference in Montreal. In the spring of 2006, Riverside sent a directive to all its 22 schools instructing bus drivers to stop idling engines. The St. Jude students successful anti-idling campaign did not go unnoticed; this spring the won a Canadian Environmental Gold award.

Debunking myths

Engines don’t need the idle in order to warm up. Excessive idling causes carbon buildup along with wear and tear on internal parts—both are harmful to an engine.

Running an engine at low speed does not save the life of the engine. It actually causes twice the wear on parts.

The circuitry on most school buses can be easily rewired so that the safety equipment (flashing lights/stop sign) can operate for up to one hour without turning the engine on.

Auxiliary heaters can be installed in the bus cabin to keep it comfortable when the engine is not running and bus routes can be timed so that both the driver and passenger don’t need to be kept sitting on the bus.

Buses can be easily retro-fitted to use less fuel and run more efficiently.

Tags: commuting, idling, traffic jamstag cloud.