EPA: "Idling OK in Moderation"

The EPA recently banned vehicles for idling for over three minutes (story here). After reading this story, I couldn’t help but notice the many absurdities surrounding this new regulation.

The EPA openly admits that “Emissions from motor vehicles are the main source of air contaminants in urban areas and have a severe impact on air quality and public health,” yet at the same time is condoning

three full minutes of engine idling (unless the outdoor temperature is 30 C, which at that point vehicles are free to idle as long as they want).

It is scientifically understood, worldwide, that idling any longer than 15 seconds is excessive and unnecessary. It is impossible for the EPA not to have access to this information, which allows the new regulation to be interpreted as saying that two minutes and forty-five seconds of idling is acceptable. To me, this is the same as saying that it is permissible to throw trash on the ground, as long as you don’t dump a whole bucket.

Another problem I have with the “3 minute rule” is that the EPA has the wrong target. The problem in this city is not vehicles that idle for three minutes or more, but rather the large volume of scooters that idle for half that time many times throughout the day.

There are intersections in Taipei City where at a red light with a duration of two minutes, the cumulative idling time of scooters and motorcycles alone is over 150 minutes (50 times the legal limit for a single vehicle). In my own round-trip commute, I spend on average around fifteen minutes (5 times the legal limit for a single vehicle) at red lights.

I’m not suggesting the EPA lower the idling cap (the lower it gets, the less the chance of actual enforcement), but I do think it’s time for the EPA to do something along the lines of a public service announcement. Rather than impose a $1,500-$60,000 fine for three minute violators, why not do more to let the motor vehicle drivers know that it is actually in their own best interest to stop idling? Wouldn’t it clean Taipei’s street-corner air much faster if people were educated about idling and how it is related to their health and wallets, instead of threatening them with fines?

Apparently the EPA is unwilling to take this road, which is why Taipei has volunteer groups like Idle-Free Taipei, 熄火救地球 , and even its own civilian super hero, Captain Air. With or without the help of the EPA or some higher power, these groups have been, and will continue to send the message to Taiwan’s motorists that idling is an unacceptable, dirty, and extremely unhealthy habit that needs to stop immediately.