Many people ask City Councillors and transit staff why does the City of Guelph allow buses to idle in St. George’s Square. It creates unnecessary noise and pollution and contributes to the carbon loading of our atmosphere.
Here is staff’s response to this question:
Engine manufacturers had traditionally recommended that diesel engines be allowed to idle for a minimum of five minutes before being shut down. New technologies may allow for this idle time to be reduced or ideally eliminated. When the engines are shut down we must ensure all of the onboard systems remain operational. These system include;
1. the ability to kneel the accessible buses
2. the ability to deploy the ramps on low floor buses
3. front and rear door remain operational
4. onboard communication system
5. surveillance cameras
6. vehicle locator system
7. the drivers emergency alarmWe have formed a small task team to work on this initiative. The above noted issues are those we are aware of at this time. However, being that there are four different vehicle types in our fleet, many with their own unique operating features, there may be additional issues that need to be resolved. Our goal is to have this initiative in place before the start of ‘bad weather days’ this summer. Ideally, we would like to launch the initiative to coincide with Clean Air Day on June 6th. Staff