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New Toronto Idling Bylaw. 1 min only and extreme weather exemptions cancelled
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| Jayx1 |
Toronto just cant get enough of taxing and fining people. They have now made it illegal to idle more than 1 min. Also they took away previous exemptions for extreme weather.
ALL THIS FROM A CITY COUNCIL WHO DOES EVERYTHING IT CAN TO MAKE SURE TRAFFIC IDLES. FROM BIKE LANES TO SPEED HUMPS TO TURN RESTRICTIONS
They are also trying to ban pop, mixed juice and water in vending machines in Toronto. So if you dont like milk, tough titty!!
Im so glad i dont spend much time in toronto these days....
| quote: | Idling law reduced to one minute, but now includes TTC buses
Actions taken by Toronto City Council
Published On Thu Jun 10 2010
David Rider
Urban Affairs Bureau Chief
Paul Moloney
Urban Affairs Reporter
Toronto has passed a one-minute limit on unnecessary vehicle idling that for the first time includes TTC buses on layover or stopover.
While the city’s anti-idling bylaw goes back to 1996, transit buses have been exempt - to the consternation of the public, said Councillor Howard Moscoe, a former TTC chair and commissioner.
“Quite frankly, it is part of the culture to leave your bus running at the end of the line,” Moscoe said. “Nobody turns their buses off.”
Moscoe is hoping the new rules will help change the culture.
“There is no reason for a TTC bus to idle at a layover. You don’t need to leave a bus idling.”
Council voted 24-13 to reducing idling time to one minute from three minutes, and eliminating a loophole that says you can idle if it’s cold or hot. The fine is $125.
• Toronto is moving ahead with an environmental assessment on refurbishing the aging Scarborough Rapid Transit line, though the province has delayed funding for it. Council voted Tuesday to proceed with a staff review of options, including converting the existing line to handle Transit City light rail vehicles, extending the line to Malvern Town Centre and building an underground link to Kennedy.
Mayor David Miller vowed to keep fighting for a reversal of the province’s decision to delay $4 billion of its promised Transit City funding: “Scarborough needs this transit.” Councillor Rob Ford (Ward 2, Etobicoke North), who is running to replace Miller, pooh-poohed the motion, saying Scarborough residents he has talked to don’t want streetcars.
• People living along the south end of Leslie St. will have to get used to the rumble of streetcars moving in and out of a $345 million streetcar garage to open at Ashbridge’s Bay in 2013. Among the 230 trips that would run along the track, 85 would be between 5 and 7 a.m., and 40 between 1 and 2 a.m. Council voted overwhelmingly to use Leslie as the access route, rejecting a less direct alternative residents asked for.
• Pop and sports drinks can stay in community centre vending machines, at least for now. Council voted 34-6 to extend its contract with Pepsi for an extra year, until Oct. 31, 2011. The company services vending machines at 134 community centres and 34 arenas. The city is considering a ban on everything but milk and pure juices in its vending machines, but will first consult with the industry.
• A new three-year contract for 272 unionized workers at 10 City of Toronto community centres has been ratified. The deal provides wage hikes of 1.75 per cent for 2009; 2 per cent for this year and 2.25 per cent next year — the same increases won by other civic workers after a 39-day strike last summer. |
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| Jayx1 |
Sue ann levy's take on it:
And quite frankly i agree with it wholly:
| quote: | In yet another chapter in their war against the car, council’s Greenhouse Gas Police have opted to give essentially anyone behind the wheel on Toronto’s roads barely one minute to idle before they’ll be slapped with a ticket.
The latest draconian measure in the crusade to clean up the air outside (not inside) Socialist Silly Hall was approved 24-13 at 7:57 p.m. Wednesday night — the preferred hour adopted by council’s NDP faction to ram through unpopular policies.
What this means is that as soon as public health can redraft the current idling bylaw and get it passed by council — by the July meeting I bet — the allowable idling time in the city will decrease from three minutes to one minute per hour.
Even TTC buses are targeted in the new rules.
Drivers will no longer be permitted to idle for up to 15 minutes while on a layover at the end of their routes.
A exemption for temperatures of 27C or above and 5C or below has also been removed in the proposed bylaw changes.
Asked why the new, improved idling bylaw is necessary, medical officer of health Dr. David McKeown said it will reduce the amount of air pollution emissions by two-thirds and will make it “easier” for enforcement officers “to be able to judge whether idling is taking place.”
Asked why not exempt mothers waiting with a baby in the car to pick up a child at school on a frigid winter’s day, McKeown insisted parents in that situation can get out of the cars and go to another location.
“(The) health (risk of idling) should win out over convenience,” he pronounced.
The law may be a ass. But methinks this bylaw is asinine.
I’m a fan of clean air like the next guy. I walk, run, take transit and cycle as much as I can.
But whenever these pronouncements come forward from McKeown and the GG Police on the board of health — Paula Fletcher and Gord Perks to name two — I forever wonder what kind of rarefied air they’re breathing within the confines of their City Hall bunker.
Does it ever dawn on any of these Arbiters of The Air We Should Breathe that the gridlock they’ve helped to greatly exacerbate thanks to their obsession with bike lanes, speed humps, lack of convenient transit and endless construction (that ties up our shrinking road space for months at a time) is far worse than any car idling for three minutes?
Take my trip from King and Sherbourne to Queens Quay this past Tuesday evening. What should have been a mere 10-minute drive turned into 40 minutes stuck in gridlock courtesy of construction, detours and roads already shut down to prepare for the G20 summit.
I can only imagine how many greenhouse gases my Honda Accord and the other cars stuck with me spewed out during that time.
McKeown’s contentions that the new rules will make the bylaw easier to enforce are a pile of bunk.
In fact, he admitted, when questioned, that since 2005 less than 100 tickets have been issued per year for idling (their own figures show an average of 75 tickets per year).
Even with the new one-minute idling threshold, he told councillors they would not see an enormous number of tickets issued.
“We can’t enforce the rules we have now ... so how is this going to work?” asked Michael Thompson, who voted against the bylaw.
I suspect the one-minute threshold is more an attempt to make it more convenient for bylaw officers to find so-called abusers.
Evidently only convenience matters when it comes to wielding the bylaw hammer.
Take these comments from Howard Moscoe.
He told council there’s no reason for a TTC bus to idle at a layover, even in the winter when passengers are on board.
“The passengers are all wearing winter clothing,” said the long-past-his-best-before-date councillor, who I’ll bet would never be caught dead sitting on a bus on a cold winter’s night.
“I know people get a little cold ... but they are dressed for winter.” |
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| Jayx1 |
I CANT BELIEVE THESE ARROGANT/IGNORANT COMMENTS:
| quote: | Take these comments from Howard Moscoe.
He told council there’s no reason for a TTC bus to idle at a layover, even in the winter when passengers are on board.
“The passengers are all wearing winter clothing,” said the long-past-his-best-before-date councillor, who I’ll bet would never be caught dead sitting on a bus on a cold winter’s night.
“I know people get a little cold ... but they are dressed for winter.” |
I think pretty much all of toronto city council needs to be flushed out in the upcoming election. What a bunch of idiots! |
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| VDub |
Jesus H Christ what a bunch of morons...
"They're all wearing winter clothing"???
That's really a quote???
This guy was elected??? |
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| SkyHigh |
| wow just wow... im glad i moved out of that hole. |
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| Magnetonium |
LOL, LOL, holly , LOL ... i dont know what to say.
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| MarkT |
didn't the TTC (or someone) say that the anti-idling law would result in damage to the turbochargers in their diesel vehicles too?
edit: I found it:
| quote: | Higher repair bills and, ironically, more pollution.
That’s the outlook for the TTC’s diesel bus fleet if the transit agency has to abide by a motion passed Wednesday, which would limit legal idling time for vehicles, including city buses, to no more than one minute.
Transit officials are on board with the spirit of the tougher rules, but they’re still working out how a one-minute limit can be enforced when diesel buses need about three minutes to cool down before the driver turns off the engine.
The 1996 bylaw allows three minutes of idling in a 60-minute period, but gave buses up to 15 minutes to idle at stopovers or layovers — the period at the end of the route in which buses sit in the station or at the loop before returning.
But a proposed amendment to the bylaw by councillor and former TTC chair Howard Moscoe removed the layover exemption.
“Officially we will work with the city in order for the TTC to respect the intent of the bylaw,” TTC chair Adam Giambrone said Thursday. But he said requiring compliance could actually cause more pollution if it interferes with the turbochargers found in most of the TTC’s diesel engines.
A turbocharger is an engine part that makes the bus more fuel-efficient. It runs at about 100,000 rotations per minute rather than 2,000 rpms. Because it runs so hot, it needs about three minutes to cool down in an idling phase or the part can seize, putting the bus out of service. It costs about $8,000 to replace.
Even if the turbocharger doesn’t fail, the burned oil created in this process ends up sending more particulate matter into the air.
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full article here: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/ttc...nti-idling-rule |
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| Sentinal |
| Guess I better turn off the Bus while I am at Islington Subway station. Oh but wait, we use diesil fuel, which neads to warm up before operation, especially in the winter to prevent damaging the engine. The amount of damage costs to all those TTC buses by constantly turning them on and off will be astronimical if they actually comply with this new bull law. Good job Toronto, another attempt to look like your doing something worthwhile and failing hard. |
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| Jayx1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Sentinal
Guess I better turn off the Bus while I am at Islington Subway station. Oh but wait, we use diesil fuel, which neads to warm up before operation, especially in the winter to prevent damaging the engine. The amount of damage costs to all those TTC buses by constantly turning them on and off will be astronimical if they actually comply with this new bull law. Good job Toronto, another attempt to look like your doing something worthwhile and failing hard. |
you didnt actually think this law was about the environment did u?
Its about more fines and more revenue. Thats all toronto is now. One scam after another to turn you into a criminal so they can shake you down. And to a greater extent, thats how ontario is now.
Here is an article directly related to your comments. It seems even the communist rag Toronto Star isnt even onside with this latest nonsense (now thats saying something!!)
| quote: | TTC wrestling with new anti-idling rule
Old exemption for buses may no longer apply
Published On Thu Jun 10 2010
Tess Kalinowski
Transportation Reporter
Higher repair bills and, ironically, more pollution.
That’s the outlook for the TTC’s diesel bus fleet if the transit agency has to abide by a motion passed Wednesday, which would limit legal idling time for vehicles, including city buses, to no more than one minute.
Transit officials are on board with the spirit of the tougher rules, but they’re still working out how a one-minute limit can be enforced when diesel buses need about three minutes to cool down before the driver turns off the engine.
The 1996 bylaw allows three minutes of idling in a 60-minute period, but gave buses up to 15 minutes to idle at stopovers or layovers — the period at the end of the route in which buses sit in the station or at the loop before returning.
But a proposed amendment to the bylaw by councillor and former TTC chair Howard Moscoe removed the layover exemption.
“Officially we will work with the city in order for the TTC to respect the intent of the bylaw,” TTC chair Adam Giambrone said Thursday. But he said requiring compliance could actually cause more pollution if it interferes with the turbochargers found in most of the TTC’s diesel engines.
A turbocharger is an engine part that makes the bus more fuel-efficient. It runs at about 100,000 rotations per minute rather than 2,000 rpms. Because it runs so hot, it needs about three minutes to cool down in an idling phase or the part can seize, putting the bus out of service. It costs about $8,000 to replace.
Even if the turbocharger doesn’t fail, the burned oil created in this process ends up sending more particulate matter into the air.
TTC drivers are trained to comply with the old anti-idling bylaw. But “I doubt there’s 100 per cent enforcement,” said Giambrone.
Moscoe, in fact, doesn’t believe a TTC bus driver has ever been charged with violating the limit. The number of tickets issued for all idling violations over the past five years averaged just 76 per year.
Meanwhile, transit union president Bob Kinnear is warning: “Get ready for some major, major service delays,” if the city actually enforces the one-minute rule.
Bus drivers couldn’t stick to their schedules if they had to be turning the buses and on and off all day, he said.
Layovers typically occur when buses are being sidelined after rush hour to reduce route frequency. “It takes five to seven minutes to get that bus going again. Once the vehicle is shut down and restarted there are certain tests you’re supposed to conduct to ensure the air pressure is being maintained in the brake line,” he said.
Drivers are lucky if those tests and the perimeter check of the bus is done when they take it out in the morning because they’re so pushed for time after they’ve clocked in, retrieved a fare box and walked out to the yard, said Kinnear.
At the outdoor Eglinton yard, TTC staff even turn on buses in the middle of the night to make sure they start in time for morning service, Giambrone said.
Buses pulling into Wellesley station mid-afternoon Wednesday spent less than two minutes on average unloading passengers and boarding new ones. But the process takes less time outside rush hour, when fewer people are riding the bus.
At Union Station, GO Transit buses idled for more than five minutes while passengers boarded. |
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| mute79 |
diesel is the dirtiest fuel out there, so i'd be glad if this results in getting diesels off the roads..
could someone post a link on the justification for this bylaw change? |
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| DeleteFromUsers |
| quote: | Originally posted by mute79
diesel is the dirtiest fuel out there, so i'd be glad if this results in getting diesels off the roads..
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Come again? Say what?
Diesel requires much higher compression for ignition than gasoline (17:1 versus 9:1). This means much better torque but reduced HP output.
Nible cars fare better with gasoline because drivers want acceleration and speed with relatively light loads.
Trucks and buses are far better off with diesel because of the high torque which is great for moving heavy loads (albiet kinda slowly).
Especially with today's technology, diesel looks pretty decent compared to gasoline in cars. For trucks and buses, gasoline is entirely out of the question (ever seen an 18-wheeler with a gasoline engine?) |
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| DeleteFromUsers |
| quote: | Originally posted by MarkT
didn't the TTC (or someone) say that the anti-idling law would result in damage to the turbochargers in their diesel vehicles too?
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Complying with the manufacturer's operating procedures IS NOT IDLING. Sheesh! Proper warm up and cool down of any powered machinery is essential for longevity and efficiency.
As such, the buses should be able to run at a LOW RPM out of gear for the REQUIRED 3min (or whatever's in the manual) and THEN the 1min clock should start (assuming we want to freeze our citizens sitting on a bus in February, which I don't agree with, but that's another issue). |
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