From Deseret News archives:
No-idling zone: Schools urge drivers to cut pollution by turning off buses, cars
Washington, Salt Lake City and Cache school districts are piloting a program, expected to go national next year, to train school bus drivers to kill the engines on idle buses. Students and parents at Rowland Hall-St. Mark's School and Emerson Elementary in Salt Lake City and Morningside Elementary in Granite School District are urging parents to do the same when picking up their kids at the end of the day.
Rowland Hall-St. Mark's parent Sarah Uram says it's as important to student safety as buckling a seat belt.
"Idling is really unnecessary and it's a huge source of pollution and causes a lot of distress for kids with respiratory problems, even for healthy kids," said Uram, a member of Rowland Hall's sustainability committee. "It's a pretty easy thing just to turn your car off."
Vehicles contribute to nearly two-thirds of air pollutants in Utah, Utah Clean Cities director Robin Erickson said. Idling, be it at the drive-through or waiting to load passengers, unnecessarily adds to it.
State transportation supervisor Murrell Martin wants to do even better than that. He hopes to curtail school bus idling five minutes a day.
The three Utah school districts, partnering with three more in Nevada and Utah Clean Cities, are using a $100,000 grant to develop anti-idling training for bus drivers, a project that also includes the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Energy Foundation, Erickson said. Curriculum premiered in Washington School District last November, in Salt Lake City last month, and is coming soon to Cache school bus drivers. Emissions data will be gathered, and the lessons are expected to become part of the national school bus driver curriculum next year.
Basically, bus drivers could kill the engine during student loading, but not necessarily at stop signs, railroad crossings or red lights, Erickson said.
Recent comments
Another poorly disguised effort by the makers of starters and...
BearOne | Feb. 5, 2008 at 12:48 p.m.
Nice start. But how about all the idling at drive up windows. Maybe...
Harry | Feb. 5, 2008 at 12:35 p.m.
If we assume that the science is correct that idling more than 30...
Allan | Feb. 5, 2008 at 12:14 p.m.
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