Windsor considers reducing car idling times to 1 minute

Windsor motorists could get dinged for a $100 ticket for idling their vehicles for more than a minute, if a recommendation to the city's environment committee gains any traction and is approved.

A pollution report going to committee members next week outlines plans to reduce the idling limit from the current five minutes.

• Windsor anti-idling bylaw could be revisited

The proposal is designed to further reduce vehicle emissions, but there will be significant challenges enforcing it, according to Dustin Carey, the city's environment and sustainability coordinator.

In his report to the committee, he indicates that enforcement challenges will continue to be a problem.

"Unless an official happens upon an idling vehicle, the bylaw will rely largely upon citizen reporting," Carey wrote. "As a result, an idling vehicle will often have moved before a bylaw enforcement officer can respond to the complaint."

The city will also have to rely on Windsor police to issue the bulk of the tickets because bylaw officers are only permitted to issue tickets on private property, Carey told CBC News.

Coun. Rino Bortolin supports the proposal's goal to reduce emissions, but he too recognizes the importance of enforcement.

"When we create these bylaws or change these bylaws to make them more stringent, that has to come with the ability to enforce them," he said.

Windsor police were not available for comment Thursday, but Carey told CBC News the police support the bylaw change because a one-minute limit would make it easier to enforce.

He said it's time consuming for officers to spend five minutes watching a car idling.