New idling bylaw
New idling bylaw
By Jennifer Humphries
On October 2, City Council voted to amend Ottawa’s Idling Control Bylaw. While it’s not all that we advocated for, the new bylaw is a significant improvement over the old one.
The original 2007 bylaw put no limits on how long a driver could idle their vehicle when the temperature was below 5 degrees Centigrade or above 27. That meant there were at least 245 days a year when idling was just fine.
Now there is a limit – 10 minutes in a 60-minute period. In addition, the lower temperature threshold has been changed from 5 degrees to 0.
When the temperature is between 0 and 27, the limit remains at three minutes in a 60-minute period. We had urged one minute, and the staff report recommended it. Unfortunately, there was a risk that the new bylaw might fail to pass without some watering down, so retention of the three-minute maximum was a compromise. That’s disappointing. But on the whole, the new bylaw is a success for our environment and our health.
Why is it important to minimize motor vehicle idling?
Here’s a little-known fact: 15,000 Canadians die each year from air pollution, according to Health Canada. That’s similar to the number who died from COVID in 2020 (14,642).
Ottawa’s air quality may be better than that in some cities, but measurements at schools during drop-off and pick-up time are extremely high. Toxic fumes produced by idling cars, trucks and buses – that’s what kids are breathing in every school day.
Ottawa has many idling hot spots. One of the worst is King Edward Avenue, but every neighbourhood has one or more. Citizen scientists collect data at 18 sites across the city (https://www.iqair.com/ca/canada/ontario/ottawa). For Glebe data, go to the Real Time Pollution Map. Note that the moderate reading is not good – check the fine print on the site.
Ottawa aspires to be a truly livable city. Clean air is an essential element of such a city.
Awareness and education are key
The debate at City Hall raised awareness among councillors and the mayor, providing supporters with strong reasons to support a more effective bylaw and sensitizing opponents to the justified concerns of citizens. The mayor voted in favour and spoke supportively in media interviews following the decision. “The signal that we’ve sent is that we don’t want people to idle their cars,” he said. “Even on cold and hot days there’s a limit to what they should be doing.”
The Environment Committee of the Glebe Community Association (GCA) worked on this issue with several partner associations. We also engaged with our umbrella group, Community Associations for Environmental Sustainability (CAFES), and Ecology Ottawa. And we had the strong support of Councillor Shawn Menard. While the GCA team began working to reduce idling back in 2019, the massive air pollution impacts of the February 2022 convoy galvanized more communities to action.
Healthy school zones
What’s critical now is to push for education and signage. The GCA and our partners will speak with bylaw staff about the communications plan. Shawn Menard has already secured the agreement of the city’s public works department and funds for signs in 16 high-traffic corridors. But none has been allocated yet for school-zone funding.
We want to see permanent signs in school zones as well as signs that residents can order for their front lawns, similar to the Slow Down for Us signs.
Because they are small, children are particularly vulnerable to health impacts of vehicle emissions. Those with asthma are especially at risk.
The staff report cited input from Ottawa school board administrators who said school buses need to idle to “stay on schedule.” Most school buses run on diesel, and diesel exhaust includes arsenic, formaldehyde, benzene and other toxins which have been shown to cause cancer and affect the cardiorespiratory system.
It’s reported that school boards want to facilitate “kiss and ride” programs. Is idling really a necessary part of this? Couldn’t drivers dress for the weather and turn the car off?
Enforcement too
While education is more important than enforcement, it’s still important that egregious offenders face consequences. The motion at City Council directed staff to focus on zones such as schools, construction sites and other locations identified by staff and councillors where excessive idling is a known issue.
Benedykt Syposz’s letter in the October Glebe Report, “Idle excuses,” identifies one group that certainly should respect the bylaw – the City vehicles that are often seen idling. We plan to approach fleet managers to reinforce the need to educate and monitor the behaviour of the city’s own drivers. As the new bylaw indicates, the convenience of the driver is not a valid reason to idle.
Jennifer Humphries encourages every driver of a gas or diesel vehicle to turn off their engine whenever possible, especially in school zones.
