It’s easy to scapegoat the buses, especially if you don’t rely on them for transportation. School and city buses are not by a long shot the only guilty parties when it comes to unnecessary idling, which pollutes our air, while wasting fuel and adding noise. Spend any amount of time moving around on foot or bike, and you will notice the other culprits. They range from police officers idling their cruisers while filling in as school crossing guards, to firefighters letting their trucks run while they grab food at a restaurant. Parents sitting in running cars outside of their kids’ schools. Ambulances idling in back of large parking lots as they await their next call. People giving their cars over fifteen minutes to “warm up” in the driveway. Drive-thru — fast food or drug stores. The highway at rush hour.
How do we change behavior?
We could ask that those in positions of authority model desirable behaviors by not idling except for when actively responding to emergencies; lunch is not an emergency.
We could insist that the regulations be enforced by DEEP field staff and by the police. DEEP has a number to use for reporting idling: (860) 424-3436. The State could step up its education on air pollution, beyond only posting signs by schools. Give folks information in plain language about why these regulations exist. Then, enforce. A regulation is nothing unless it is supported by enforcement.
During the anti-toll arguments, I was amazed to not hear this more, but it is still too cheap to operate a car in Connecticut. How I know this is by the number of people I see idling their vehicles. While raising fuel prices to combat idling would be unpopular, I throw that out as one way to get at the issue.
Anyway, modern cars do not need to run for more than a few seconds before being driven. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, “idling for more than 10 seconds uses more fuel and produces more emissions that contribute to smog and climate change than stopping and restarting your engine does.” Some vehicles now have built-in anti-idling technology, but that does not account for the majority of vehicles in our neighborhoods.
Idling because you want the interior to be warm? You’re in Connecticut. Accept that fact and put on a hat, mittens, and add layers, or take a quick jog around the block before being stationary in your car. Don’t just wear your work clothes in your car and expect that to be sufficient.
*And if you are among those with a medical condition that requires special consideration, this article is not written for you. It is written for all the other people who can get along just fine but choose not to and unnecessarily pollute our air.