Draft anti-idling policy

City of Summerside

DRAFT Anti Idling Policy for City Vehicles


Reduce Vehicle Idling

Vehicle idling gets zero miles per gallon; unnecessary idling wastes fuel and pollutes. Running an engine at low speed (idling) also causes twice the wear on internal parts compared to driving at regular speeds. The breakeven point for shutting off and restarting gasoline engines or leaving it to idle is 30 seconds- from the point of view of both emissions and fuel consumption.

The City of Summerside needs to be a leader in attempting to lessen pollutants that pose a determent to the areas air quality. These pollutants include nitrogen oxide, carbon dioxide, particulate matter, and volatile organic compounds.

Idling vehicles consumes approximately 17% of the fuel that the vehicles has on board.

Effective immediately, unless exempt in the following section, no City vehicle or piece of equipment is to be idled in a non-emergency situation. The operator of the vehicle/equipment is to turn-off the unit and the keys are to be removed from the ignition.

EXEMPTIONS

Emergency vehicles at scenes where lights and other accessories are needed to accomplish their mission.
Police vehicles when working traffic enforcement details.
Municipal Works and Electric Utility vehicles at job sites requiring the use of emergency lights and/or other accessories to accomplish their assignment.


Note:

Operators of vehicle/equipment and supervisors will be judicious in the idling of units at emergency scenes and job sites. If not all the units at the scene/site need to be idling, those units must be turned off and the keys removed from the ignition.

Supervisors in each department will be responsible for the adherence and enforcement of the idling policy. Violations of the policy will be documented as to the vehicle/equipment operator, vehicle code, location, date and time, weather conditions, and circumstances of this violation. The vehicle/equipment operator will be informed of the violation by the supervisor at the time of the infraction.