Stronger rules against idling aimed at worst offenders

A city committee votedfor tougher rules against idling vehicles on Thursday, despite worries that the bylaw will be hard to enforce.

The existing Idling Control Bylaw prohibits idling for longer than three minutes, though there's a long list of exceptions. The new rules would limitidlingto one minute.

Limits currently do not apply when temperatures are below 5 C or above 27 C. That means the bylaw was ineffective for the equivalent of about eight months a year, according to city staff.

Under the new rules, the maximum would be set at fiveminutes in cold and hottemperatures, now defined as below 0 C and above 27 C, including humidex.

The set fine remains at $500. Roger Chapman, the city's director of bylaw and regulatory services, said his officers will use their discretion and don't plan to come down hard on first time offenders.

He said enforcement will be complaint driven and focus on "problematic areas," like school zones and construction sites.

"This is for blatant disregard of the bylaw," he said.

The goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from unnecessary idling. But enforcement has been a challenge under the existing bylaw. The city gets about 270 complaints a year, but only issues about 10 warnings and seven infractions on average.

Chapman said the new bylaw includes new tools that will make it easier to enforce, in particular by allowing his officers to charge vehicle owners, not just drivers.

Gloucester-Southgate Coun. Jessica Bradley welcomed the changes, saying she wants a bylaw that allows officers to go after repeat offenders, who are "driving residents crazy."

"I don't want to see aggressive enforcement of one-minute idling," she said. "I want to address the nuisances that we're seeing in our communities that are having real impacts on residents."

Some call new rules unenforceable, wasteful

Knoxdale-Merivale Coun. Sean Devine floated some ideas that, in his view, could help bylaw officers nab more idlers.

"If we are going to go fishing, I want us to go fishing where there's a lot of fish in the pond," he said. "As an example, in February you could send bylaw off to any City of Ottawa park and ride at 5 p.m. on a weekday and possibly catch dozens of people in violation of the bylaw."

Other councillors worried that enforcement under the new bylaw will still be difficult and potentially wasteful.

"This bylaw is not truly enforceable, and even in the cases that it is, it will be spotty at best because it will be complaint based and subject to officer availability," said Orlans East-Cumberland Coun. Matt Luloff.

"Our bylaw team can't even respond to a noise complaint while it's ongoing. How do we think they're going to be able to get to an idling vehicle within a minute?"

Rideau-Jock Coun. David Brown agreed, and worried that bylaw officers could emit more carbon dioxide responding to calls than the stronger rules will actually prevent by reining in idling.

Chapman noted that the large majority of their vehicles are hybrid or electric, and Brown's motion to effectively shelve the bylaw change failed. The new rules passed 11 to five at committee, and now must go to a full meeting of council for final approval.

If the updated bylaw passes, it would come into effect on Jan. 1 next year.

Jennifer Humphries of Community Associations for Environmental Sustainability spoke in support of the changes, saying efforts to reduce idling are "low-hanging fruit" with benefits for health and the environment.

"Enforcement is critical in these egregious cases, repeat offenders," she said. "Construction vehicles, delivery vehicles, just sitting there idling, texting, eating lunch."

She was also pleased that city staff and councillors recognized that education even more than enforcement will be key to the success of those efforts.

"School yards are the worst area to idle because young lungs are growing, they're developing," she said. "What you don't want is children breathing in toxic fumes day in and day out. Parents need to know this."

The new rules retain most of the exemptions of the existing bylaw, with minor adjustments and additions. The exemptions include:

• Vehicles transporting people with a letter from a medical professional
• Coaches, tour buses and school buses while loading and unloading passengers
• Non-polluting vehicles
• Emergency service vehicles, though not for convenience of the operators
• Normal farm practices

The bylaw also does not apply to vehicles stuck in traffic or using drive-thrus.