Clear the Air – Reduce Idling
PGAIR’s latest video to urge folks to reduce idling
Prince George, B.C. – When the weather is cold, it’s not uncommon for residents in the Prince George area to idle their vehicles to either warm them up, or keep them warm while they whip into a convenience store. It’s a behaviour PG AIR is hoping folks will change.PGAIR has launched a new video, which it hopes will encourage people to see the impacts of idling. During the kind of cold weather Prince George has been experiencing this week, there is every possibility of a temperature inversion, which traps pollutants in the bowl area. Reducing idling won’t change the reality of an inversion, but fewer pollutants would be available to be trapped.
“Instead of idling your vehicle for ten minutes, try just idling for one minute” says Dan Veller Board member of PGAIR “If we all do a little bit, it makes an unbelievable difference to our airshed.”
The impact would not only mean a reduction in fine particulate matter, but reduced fuel costs (saving about $85 dollars a year based on current fuel costs) and reduced negative impacts on health.
Air quality in Prince George has improved over the years, although it’s difficult to say exactly by how much. While there is a baseline of particulate matter values when PGAIR launched about ten years ago, there are no current measurements with which to compare those numbers to see if in fact PGAIR is close to achieving its goal of reducing particulate matter by 40% by the end of 2016. Anecdotal information would suggest improvements have been made, but the impact of those improvements on the overall airshed have yet to be calculated.
A previous video by PGAIR indicated the pollution ‘pie’ is pretty evenly split when it comes to contributors to air quality issues in P.G. :
- Permitted industry 21%
- Vehicles and Road Dust 20%
- Other 18%
- Commercial 16%
- Naturally Occurring 15%
- Residential 10%
“The video is another addition to the education and awareness campaign” says Tiffany Bonnet, media relations person for PGAIR “It’s also an opportunity to check in with people and see if they are happy with the air quality and find out where they would like to see more work.” A third video, which will focus on dust issues will be released in early March when sweeping of streets, parking lots, and clearing lawns of aggregate moves into full swing.
People have multiple motivators for changing their behaviours says Bonnet, who admits not everyone may care about improving air quality, but they may care about their own health, the health of their family, or the cost savings that can be achieved by adopting other practices. Here are some tips that will help residents make a positive difference.
- Drive less. Try using transit or active transportation sometimes
- plan your driving trips ahead of time for the most efficient route.
- Maintain Your Vehicle. Get regular oil changes and tune-ups, and keep your tires properly inflated. A tune-up can improve the fuel efficiency of your car by 15% and up to 50% if your car has not been regularly maintained.
- Avoid Idling. It wastes fuel, time, money, and is hard on your engine.
- Take the PGAIR Pledge to Drive Smart for Clean Air.
“If people would just consider idling a little bit less, it would make such a big difference” says Veller
Comments
School zones are terrible for idling. Even though there are numerous “this is an idle free zone” signs around people still idle away. Crazy.
I see the RCMP are still the biggest culprits.
Although I agree excessive idling is stupid, I fully disagree with “Avoid Idling. It wastes fuel, time, money, and is hard on your engine”
Not warming your engine AND transmission up before driving in cold weather is much more damaging to your vehicle and will even cause it to run worse over time from excessive wear. People really have no idea how thick the oil inside your drivetrain is when it is below zero.
actually pg101 the city vehicles are still the worst, It seems they are always left idling, as are buses, and taxis.
Idle Smidle….we got 30 maybe 40 thousand vehicles in an area the size of Sweden. If they want less idling why doesn’t someone synchronize the lights on the bypass? Stop, sit & wait every 2 blocks for a red light. They can do it in Edmonton on Hwy 16 through town, surely they could do it here.
You want to reduce idling? Get rid of all the drive-throughs. Until that happens, don’t talk about the ills of idling.
Posted on Wednesday, January 6, 2016 @ 8:10 AM by Krusty with a score of 2
You want to reduce idling? Get rid of all the drive-throughs. Until that happens, don’t talk about the ills of idling.
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LOL! Can you imagine the outrage if someone in government were to propose that?
So when I pull up behind the teenager that’s busy trying to scrape the frozen condensation off the inside of their windshield it’s not because they just ran out the door and jumped in their car and took off because they’re late for school, it’s because they’re being green…..
Before everyone gets their shorts in a knot over idling this article presents no evidence of fine particular emissions from an idling gasoline engine.
Notice vehicle and road dust 20%, what does that mean? Vehicle emissions are so low that it is mixed in with road dust to look dramatic?
Poorly written article with no facts or evidence, lets see more.
By the way how is that little electric go kart the Uni and the city bought holding up.
One thing I would like to know is where some people get the idea that because they have a diesel they need to let it idle instead of shutting it off.
I’m told that over the past few decades automotive pollutant emissions have been cut by 95%. Idling will not make a measurable difference. It’s when the vehicle is moving that it raises road dust and particulate from the surface of the road, not from the exhaust pipe.
“I’m told that over the past few decades automotive pollutant emissions have been cut by 95%.”
That is correct but it applies only to passenger type vehicles. Trucks, busses, trains and heavy duty equipment are not included. Diesel engines with proper emission controls such as soot filters and urea fluid injection pre-exhaust treatment run very clean. Road dust and fine particulate emissions from inefficient wood stoves produce more emissions than any of the other factors mentioned.
as for idling in drive thrus, here’s an idea. now, I honestly can’t remember if I thought of this idea or I saw it somewhere else (I’m inclined to think the latter because I’m not this clever). as you enter a drive thru, the road should be at an incline, a little uphill. once you’re in the drive thru, you are at a very slight decline until the exit of the drive thru. you can shut off your vehicle and put it in neutral and just take your foot off the brake a little to move up in the line.
this is definitely something I would do for much of the year, but honestly, when it’s -20 and I’m doing my damnedest to keep my windows from refogging up, I’m keeping my car running. Clean Air PG can go talk to the guy in my neighbourhood with a super old, inefficient wood fireplace, who causes a massive smoky cloud to cover a massive area when the air is calm on cold winter nights. that guy is causing the problem, not me warming up my car for a few minutes to keep my wife happy.
With power brakes only allowing for 2 to 3 effortless brakes and then you have to pull on the steering wheel to stop I think more of a track like say in a car wash. Turn off the car, put it in neutral and get pulled to your take out window….
Food for thought: What quantity of harmful emissions are created by an idling locomotive? Now go to the railyard on first ave, then the yard in the BCR industrial site and count how many loco’s are sitting there spewing idling exhaust.
Then there is the Husky refinery… D’Oh!! Cannot speak of that, mak8ng fuel is sooo much cleaner than burning it.
When industry is reigned in with their emissions, then the idling cars, road dust and woodstoves can become a target. Meanwhile, big industry is choking us all to death.
PG AIR is using (wood)smoke and (truck)mirrors to blame the population for industry’s toxic output. Seriously, 3 pulpmills, an oil refinery, a peroxide chem plant, 2 rail yards, sawm8lls and co-gen plants kinda outweigh what individuals create for emissions. But you all go ahead and believe what you will.
Well said watchdog . I guess news of electric car warmers and block heaters that eliminate the need to burn gas for ten minutes to defog the windows and warm the engine hasn’t reached pg as an option yet . The problem is going away one sale at a time . 2015 EV sales broke all the record sales again ( see insideevs.com ) . EBuses also broke all records saving cities millions in gas and repairs , which they need little of . Any city that is not looking to convert to e buses is either not looking at the bottom line or there is some vested interest at play .
Not too sure if you realize this or not watchdog….but the ‘Nasty industry players’ here in PG…..pretty much are PG and employ THOUSAND of residends directly and indirectly. We are a MILL TOWN, industry has likely been here longer than most people who complain about air quality. Don’t like it…..leave.
Ataloss we can all run over and plug into your solar system.
Interesting how we never hear about that ev car the city plays with. Yep, winter, heater on, wipers going, ploughing through snow I am sure it get excellent time between charges. The only way to sell them is with subsidies. How are you doing with yours?
Lets see look at the percentages and with vehicles buried in with road dust what’s with the headline. Vehicle emissions seems to be a teeny part of the mix, so small in fact its not even given its own percentage.
Is that video being shown at schools to brain wash the little tykes with misinformation?
Have a look at vancouvers new trolley buses . Our taxes both provincial and federal paid for them . I don’t know about you folks but don’t you feel like a proud owner ? Translink is slated to spend $ 1.61 billion this year and we all get to pay whether or not you ride .
Hate to tell you Ataloss, electric vehicles also stir up road dust… :(
You boys need a calculator and some federal and provincial green funding URLs .
Posted on Wednesday, January 6, 2016 @ 3:01 PM by Rocketeer with a score of 7
Not too sure if you realize this or not watchdog….but the ‘Nasty industry players’ here in PG…..pretty much are PG and employ THOUSAND of residends directly and indirectly. We are a MILL TOWN, industry has likely been here longer than most people who complain about air quality. Don’t like it…..leave.
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That makes it all OK then?
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