![graphic: gas pump](gas_pump_art.jpg)
You’re in control…
Fifty-five percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the Pacific Northwest come from transportation.
Your driving habits can affect the amount of fuel you use. You control:
- Engine running time
- Vehicle speed
- Vehicle performance
A poorly maintained vehicle will waste fuel no matter how well you drive it.
A truck driven using poor driving habits can consume up to 35 percent more fuel than a truck driven using fuel-efficient driving techniques. [Source: What Smart Drivers Should Know, Office of Energy Efficiency, Canada, 1998]
Some facts about idling
- Idling for more than 10 seconds uses more fuel than restarting the engine [Source: Fast Facts About Vehicle Idling, Greater Sudbury, Canada]
- Idling for 2 minutes uses the same amount of fuel it takes to travel 1 mile
- Idling 10 minutes per day uses over 27 gallons of fuel per year [Source: Vermont Agency of Natural Resources
Fuel efficiency
Idling gets you nowhere…
An idling vehicles gets the worst gas mileage possible: 0 miles per gallon.
If 145 million passenger vehicles idle for 5 minutes a day, they consume about 4 million gallons of gasoline. [Source: www.hcdoes.org—external link]
At least 31 states and the District of Columbia have anti-idling regulations at the state, county, or local level. The limits placed on idling time range from 15 minutes—in Maricopa County, Ariz.; Owatonna, Minn.; Clark and Washoe counties in Nevada and the State of Nevada itself; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Atlanta, Ga.—to 0 minutes in Minneapolis, Minn. in residential areas between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
King County’s idling policy…
King County employees shall not cause or permit vehicles covered by this policy to idle for more than three minutes in a 60-minute period, except as allowed under policy exemptions.
Vehicles covered by this policy—Non-revenue vehicles and off-road equipment in all King County Executive agencies. This includes:
- Department of Assessments
- King County Sheriff’s Office
- The departments and administrative offices that report to the King County Executive
Policy exemptions—A vehicle may idle:
- In highway traffic
- When yielding to emergency vehicles
- At an official traffic signal or sign
- At the direction of a law enforcement official
- To prevent a safety or health emergency
- While in emergency or training mode
- For maintenance, servicing, repairing, or diagnostic purposes
- As part of a state or federal inspection
- A non-revenue passenger bus may idle a maximum of 10 minutes in any 60-minute period to maintain passenger comfort while non-driving passengers are on board
- A vehicle may idle due to mechanical difficulties over which the driver has no control
Other provisions in the policy
- Drive within the speed limit
- Avoid sudden stops and quick acceleration
- Check tire pressure monthly
- Keep vehicles well maintained
Frequently asked questions…
Will shutting off and restarting the engine so often cause undue wear and tear?
Restarting a vehicle several times has little impact on engine parts such as the battery and the starter motor. The cost of associated wear is estimated at $10 per year.
What about diesel engines that have to be warmed up?
Excessive idling can actually be hard on the engine because fuel combustion is incomplete and some fuel residues condense on cylinder walls.
Some resources…
- Driving More Efficiently [External site]
- Fast Facts About Vehicle Idling [External site]
- Idle-Free Vermont—Idling Facts [External site]
- In a Strategic Reversal, Dutch Embrace Floods, National Public Radio [External site]
- Southwest Ohio Anti-Idling Campaign [External site]
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Last update: April 11, 2008