Houston ISD school bus drivers are trained in "eco driving," habits that aim to control the bus'
momentum. This practice helps to reduce idling times.
ship and fuel of choice, implemented effective reduced-idling programs, yet their approaches to the program vary in one way or another. But they all stress the importance of driver training and safe driving techniques. Te program at Putnam City
Public Schools in Oklahoma was revamped four years ago after the district received a grant in 2009 through the state Department of En- vironmental Quality to purchase new, cleaner-diesel school buses. One rule under the grant was to create and implement a reduced-idling policy. “We already had a one, but we
had to monitor it more closely,” said Transportation Director John Crafton. By using passive GPS and surveil-
Above: Fifty-five Tulsa (Okla.) Public Schools buses are outfitted with anti-idling technology. A large portion of the district's buses have already been converted to CNG.
alternative fuel stickers on the sides of buses, contribute to both better air quality and public relations. Cutting down on the times that big, yellow buses are seen sitting with their engines running in a parking lot or in front of a school, communicates to taxpayers that your operations, and drivers, are being proactive in helping to save them money — not to mention your own budgets. Tree particular school districts, which range in size, student rider-
lance cameras equipped on all 100 of his buses (15 are spares), Crafton can pull videos randomly to check whether drivers have violated the two-minute idle policy. Te only time drivers deviate from this is on special needs buses. Te passive GPS allows Crafton to spot check with the cameras to tell when the bus ignitions are on or off. He’ll also use his lead drivers out of sight to monitor when buses arrive at their destination school. Out of more than 19,000 Putnam students, about 6,000 bused to and from school. Once he began to monitor the
revamped program, along with the transportation department going to middle school runs in the morning, Crafton saw significant improvement.
“I say we’ve seen a $10,000 to $15,000 fuel savings,” he noted, adding that the maintenance on the buses has improved with less wear on parts and extended oil-change intervals. At Tulsa Public Schools, located
three hours east of Putnam City PS and transports about 18,000 students to and from school, the district operates 55 buses with anti-idling technology, a restriction timer. Tulsa has 264 yellow buses in its fleet, with 90 of them diesel, 33 gasoline and 141 compressed natural gas (CNG). Te allowable idle time there is
seven minutes, and the restriction timer shuts off the engine at that time, said Rosalyn Vann-Jackson, assistant director of transportation. “Te procedures specifically dis-
courage idling beyond five minutes, with significant corrective measures for exceeding idling parameters,” she noted.
Te buses currently idle near the
maximum time limit during pre-trip inspections before leaving on morn- ing and afternoon routes. But super- visory personnel can grant exceptions to the policy on a case-by-case basis. Te program was discontinued
on 141 of Tulsa’s buses converted to CNG to allow for a bigger push to- ward this green initiative route. TPS has been pioneering CNG efforts in the state since 1988, when the first CNG bus was converted. Vann-Jack- son said the conversion has resulted
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