School Bus Idling Reduction
Establish and enforce no-idling policies for school buses.
More than twenty states have adopted anti-idling regulations for all types of diesel engines. The most challenging hurdle with idling regulations is appropriate enforcement and driver education. Idling regulations should include shared enforcement components between environmental regulators, local enforcement, parents, teachers, students, local citizens, and school officials. Regulations should include supplemental local policies, such as a Memorandums of Agreement (MOAs) or written agreements between schools and the city or county to reduce idling and provide enforcement. To encourage idling reduction and management, fleet managers and transportation supervisors should consider providing rewards and incentives to bus drivers who exhibit protective behavior and stop idling.
Designate “No Idling Zones” in bus loading and unloading zones around schools.
Emission levels of diesel exhaust inside the cabin dramatically increase within three to five minutes from the time a bus is started. Additionally, idling buses increase pollution in outdoor waiting areas where students, parents, and teachers gather for their rides. Pollutants emitted outdoors, including diesel exhaust from idling buses, also contribute to poor indoor air quality. Bus loading and unloading zones are typically located in front of the schools directly adjacent to school entrances. As a result, exhaust from a line of idling buses can penetrate into school buildings and classrooms through doors, windows, and ventilation systems.
Install auxiliary power units on buses or provide inside waiting areas for bus drivers.
Auxiliary power units can be added to buses to allow the use of lighting and provide cooling and heating while the buses are parked without running their engines. Leaving buses off can be motivated by providing bus drivers with a warm or cooled area indoors to wait in the winter or summer, rather than on an idling bus.
Require anti-idling control measures for all vehicles, including parents’ cars and construction and delivery vehicles, on or operated on school property.
Encourage parents to turn off their car engines when waiting to drop off or pick up their children and advise service providers of the no-idling policies.
Air intakes and air conditioners should be located away from vehicle loading and unloading areas.
Designated areas for school buses, cars, and other vehicles should be created away from any air intakes or air conditioners. This will eliminate emissions from these vehicles from entering the school.
According to U.S. EPA, typical school buses burn approximately one-half of a gallon of diesel fuel for each hour of idling . Schools can save thousands of dollars a year in fuel and maintenance costs from reduced fuel consumption and wear and tear on the buses and equipment.
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