Officials push 'Idle Free Zones' at school pickup areas

Obie Fuller, an Alabama Board of Education bus inspector, works through a safety checklist Thursday afternoon at the Dothan City Schools bus barn. (Max Oden / moden@dothaneagle.com)

By Lance Griffin
Published: July 22, 2010

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State officials are pushing a program in schools which they say will improve the environment, promote better health, save money and avoid waste.

Elementary, middle, and high schools are being asked to establish "Idle Free Zones" around school pickup areas. Signs designating the area as an Idle Free zone will be placed nearby to encourage parents and school bus drivers to turn their vehicles off while waiting to pick up children.

Organizers of the program claim children are at an increased health risk when breathing emissions from school bus exhaust. They also say the program will help reduce air pollution and save money by keeping diesel fuel in the tank instead of burning while idle.

Also, kids who suffer from asthma and other respiratory ailments can see an increase in their problems as a result of being exposed to unhealthy air. It's currently estimated by the Alabama Department of Public Health that nearly one in five children in grades nine through 12 could have asthma.

Cutting down on the number of cars idling outside school would help improve the air quality around schools and thus improve students' general health, according to ADEM.

"We believe this can have a significant impact, not only from an environmental perspective, but from a health standpoint as well," said Scott Hughes, chief of the Office of External Affairs for the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. "Children are closer to the ground than adults, and are closer to the emissions. They breathe in, on average, 50 percent more per pound of body weight, and their lungs are still in the developmental stage."

The Alabama Board of Education passed a resolution last year supporting the program. The resolution offered the following statistics:

--- Approximately 7,539 school buses pick up and drop off school students in Alabama each day.

--- The average school bus uses 1/2 gallon of diesel fuel for each hour of idling.

--- Reducing idling by 30 minutes per day would save $135 in fuel costs per bus per year, based on diesel fuel cost of $3 per gallon.

Hughes also said the sign will be a reminder for parents who are waiting in line to pick up their children at school.

"We know on days like today (with the heat), it can be difficult," Hughes said. "But the signs will serve as a reminder to just use common sense."

Parents can expect their children to bring home informational material on the program.

No idling campaigns have been in existence in several other states. Hughes said the program is a win-win for Alabama.

"This is a program that doesn't cost anybody anything. We're just trying to change that behavioral pattern that has existed for a long time."