Recent Study Finds Bus Idling Worse Than Re-starting Engines

We all know that pollution from school buses has health implications for everyone, and particularly school kids with asthma. In the past we’ve taken a look at the issue and highlighted the fact that many times the air inside the bus is far worse than that outside of it. But a recent EPA study of school buses found that when they idle for more than just three minutes they’re actually generating more pollution than stopping and re-starting the engine. That’s an important point, because it debunks a widely held belief by some drivers who think otherwise, most likely reasoning that “just a couple of minutes” won’t do much damage. Of course using that new knowledge and turning off the engine cuts carbon monoxide, fine particles, nitrogen oxide, and carbon dioxide emissions which otherwise go wafting out into our lungs and our atmosphere. In fact, during the study the level of pollution from buses that idled for any more than three minutes was actually 66 percent higher in fine particulate matter than pollution generated from shutting off the buses and then re-starting them.

Hopefully more and more bus drivers will get the message to stop even small amounts of idling, and that every school district in the country will implement clear guidelines for a no-idling policy to make it a done deal. Let’s face it, with 24 million school kids riding the bus every day there's also a significant amount of savings to be gained from reduced fuel costs as well for districts. And that’s money that can be used in a wide array of ways to improve our kids actual time in school, rather than being wasted on the way to and from it.

via:: Stevens Publishing