Ann Arbor considers ban on idling vehicles

[The Straight Story]

Ann Arbor considers ban on idling vehicles

nn Arbor is considering whether to ban idling vehicles and enforce the regulation with fines.

AnnArbor.com reports the new ordinance was to be recommended to the Ann Arbor City Council tonight by the City of Ann Arbor Environmental Commission.

The proposed ordinance would make a $100 ticket the minimum punishment for a driver who leaves a vehicle running while unoccupied for any amount of time or running for five minutes while occupied. For commercial vehicles, the minimum fine would be $500.

The goal is to educate people on how idling vehicles affect the environment. Some other cities around the country have similar bans.

http://www.freep.com/article/20110815/NEWS06/110815015/Ann-Arbor-considers-ban-idling-vehicles

[Romulox]

1. U of M has GOT to be the biggest culprit of unattended idling engines in Ann Arbor.

Bet the tickets are reserved for students and out-of-towners, though. :hi:

[frazzled]

2. Chicago has an Anti-Idling Law

However, I think enforcement has been relatively lax and needs improvement. It's mainly directed at the trucks and tourist buses. In part:

Doing Our Share for Cleaner Air: Idling Reduction: Chicago’s New Anti-Idling Law

City Council recently amended the City’s traffic code to limit standing (idling) of on-road diesel-powered vehicles within the City’s borders to a total of three (3) minutes within a sixty-minute period. The new idling limit will not only improve air quality, but will also result in fuel conservation. Reasons for the ordinance are:


Air Pollution
The City of Chicago is located in a US Environmental Protection Agency designated non-attainment area for particulate matter and ozone. Chicago is a hub for trucking, rail and marine transportation and relies on diesel-powered vehicles and equipment to provide critical services within the City. These diesel-powered vehicles perform crucial work in order to sustain our economy but are also a significant contributor to air pollution in the Chicago region. Unnecessary idling causes the release of a variety of pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, particulate matter and other chemicals that form ground-level ozone and contribute to global warming. These pollutants aggravate respiratory ailments, cause lung damage, and lead to cancer. Read more about diesel exhaust health concerns from the US Environmental Protection Agency.


Wasted Fuel and Money
Idling wastes fuel and money. When idling, a typical diesel-powered truck burns almost a gallon of fuel per hour. Drivers that eliminate unnecessary idling can save significant dollars in fuel costs each year. For instance, by not idling 30 minutes a day for one year, a truck driver saves 125 gallons of diesel and therefore approximately $374 in fuel costs (assuming a diesel fuel price of $2.99 per gallon)—while also preventing at least 101 pounds of air pollution and 2,775 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.

http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/doe/supp_info/doing_our_share_forcleanerairidlingreduction.html

[Demeter]

3. Ann Arbor Always Picks the Non-Problem

because dealing with the real problems would involve work and change and cost money...I love living here, but the people with their noses in the air infuriate me.

[coyote]

4. Not unheard of....idling vehicles are not allowed in Germany. N/T

[tularetom]

5. There's a city around here that begins with F and ends with O

If they had this law in place they'd have to ticket every car that sat at certain intersections waiting for the light to turn green.

[Lance_Boyle]

6. Wow! A single traffic jam could fund the city for a year!

How about, you know, using *education* to educate people, not sneaky-ass revenue enhancement like this proposed bullshit?

[dtexdem]

7. In a place as cold as Ann Arbor in the winter, this will likely not work.

Anyone who has to sit in a vehicle for any time in the winter will want the heater going -- and no one wants a dead battery.

Yeah, it's bad for the environment; but a winter environment can be very bad for people, too.

Glad I don't live there.

[Shagbark Hickory]

8. Not good news for all the people up there that live in their cars.

Freeze to death or get fined.

[Generic Other]

9. They made it illegal in my town because of so many car thefts

The thieves were treating idling cars like free taxis.

[KamaAina]

10. How about drive-through fast food joints?

Plenty of idling going on there. Fellow Big Ten city Madison considered banning them a while back.