 "Photo: Richard Payson")
James Guilkey is one of many Utahns who are fed up with the state’s idling habits.
“Seeing campus vehicles idling while someone does maintenance, unloads furniture, whatever...is a waste of fuel and clean air,” said Guilkey, a research professor of mechanical engineering at the U.
Citizens and state employees are encouraged to turn off their vehicles if they expect to idle for more than 10 seconds, said Guilkey, who questioned why the groundskeepers on campus feel exempt from this. Guilkey said he has frequently seen maintenance workers fixing something on campus while their large pickup trucks are kept running for long periods of time. Last week, Guilkey saw a maintenance worker leave his truck running while he was changing a sign in Presidents Circle.
“I looked west across the valley to see the brown inversion,” he said. “It bothered me enough that I turned around and walked back, opened the truck door and turned it off.”
Alma Allred, director of commuter services, said that for the most part, the department makes an effort to keep campus vehicles from idling for extended periods of time.
Ken Searles, associate director of commuter services, said shuttle drivers are required to turn their engines off after five minutes of idling.
Students see a different story.
Anthony Bell, a freshman in biology and environmental science, said he noticed that the shuttles idle quite frequently.
“I often see the buses sitting outside the Union for seven minutes at a time,” he said.
Freshman Andrew Lam said he sees people letting their cars idle at the dorms every day.
“They are sitting there for 10 minutes,” he said. “It’s like, ‘What the heck?’ ”
According to a study by Natural Resources Canada, it is estimated that shortening the time a vehicle idles can reduce annual consumer fuel consumption by almost 2 percent.
Students at the University of Alberta studied a drive-thru in Edmonton for 54 hours and found that 3,756 cars idled in line for at least five minutes each.
The California Energy Commission found that a car uses the same amount of fuel to drive one mile as it does to idle for two minutes. On average, people let their cars idle five to 10 minutes a day.
Gov. Gary Herbert, as well as Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County mayors, signed the Idle Free Awareness Proclamation in 2009, which states that they have undertaken an idle reduction campaign to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality.
The campaign stresses that drivers should turn off their cars if they idle for more than 10 seconds.
Guilkey said he hopes the U will adopt the campaign.
“It seems only natural that U vehicles could follow these guidelines as well,” he said.
For more information on the campaign, visit www.idlefree.utah.gov.
k.harrington@chronicle.utah.edu
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