That’s the latest new ad on the back of Metro Transit buses, showing noxious gases spewing from a tailpipe. Not sure if this irony was intentional, but Transit buses are the worst offenders. I wrote Transit about their incessant idling at terminals (even in summer when we don’t need any more heat at terminals) and got no response. Ever. These folks should be taken to task for this. It’s ridiculous, wasteful, environmentally disastrous, noisy, noxious and highly unpleasant. Did I say I don’t like it?
—Just looking for a breath of fresh air
This article appears in Jul 9-15, 2009.
But I bet you’d still be bitching if your tax dollars went toward new hybrid, energy efficient buses.
They acctually do use Bio-Diesel, which is at least an attempt… not to mention far less omissions than if the number of people on the bus were tkaing their own cars everyday… Cut the transit folks some slack, if every person had a complaint line and interacted with that many people per day I suspect we’d all have our complaints…
They idle to keep the ac on in the summer and the heater on in the winter. It takes a long time to heat and cool buses.
I can see the bitches now if they did shut off – The buses are too fucking cold” or “The buses are too fucking hot”.
Think before making asinine comments.
I’m with Bro Tim
You can’t make everybody happy, simple as that.
For every bus carrying 30 or so people to work, you probably elminate about half that amount in cars on the road. Do the math, idiot.
I agree with all of the above posters. I especially second LOGiC’s post: there’d be A LOT more emissions if everyone who took even one bus in the course of a day started driving their own cars.
The buses don’t really generate THAT much heat from exhaust in the summer….just walk a few feet and the blast of heat is pretty much gone. It’s summer, it’s hot. suck it up.
The buses stopped using biodiesel a couple of years ago, because it freezes at very low temps.
Metro Transit has a policy that drivers should turn off buses if they’re going to be idling more than three minutes– unless there are people on the bus and the bus needs heating.
It’s hard to get upset about drivers keeping themselves warm in the wintertime, but AC simply isn’t necessary in Nova Scotia. Not on a bus, anyway– stupidly we build office buildings and such without openable windows.
And yes, we should ride the bus.
Get on the 80 filled to capacity for a stinkfilled smellfest all the way to Suckville if you think AC isn’t necessary around here. Go ahead. Get on at Scotia Square and enjoy the ride…
I agree with Cranky.
They’re not using biodiesel anymore?
Tim is mistaken. HRM has a contract with Wilson Fuels to supply a revised mixture of Bio-Diesel. The original 2004-2006 trials failed due to cold-weather issues but a new and current contract was signed in 2007.
One little Jetta carrying one little person smells as bad as a big bus carrying 40 people. Most of the time when I smell a bad diesel smell, it’s a Volkswagen diesel close by, not a bus.
Phew!
“Tim is mistaken”
Unpossible!
I’ve never had air conditioning, even when I lived in California. You people are wimps.
Here ya go Tim, Page 9:
http://www.halifax.ca/council/documents/c0…
“You people” WTF, didn’t mayor Kelly get in shit for using the same words? I’m sure California would welcome you back if you don’t like being around our type of people. Geeeez
Californians are so stupid!!!
And here is the actual study paper when suggesting council enter into the 2007 contract with Wilsons:
http://www.halifax.ca/Council/agendasc/doc…
No, I believed you, vor.
Come on, don’t make this a CFA thing– I just find it strange that in this relatively cool climate, people use air conditioning.
Tim, most people here haven’t a clue what hot weather is.
How many of them have been to California in the summer ?
Or Iran, Kuwait, UAE, Iraq, Dubai, Saudi etc. Or even Singapore or Indonesia. Hot, humid most of the year but especially humid at this time of year. I only went to those places because I had no option and didn’t always have air conditioning, unless you count the occasional breeze.
Great way to lose weight but make sure to take the salt pills.
The buses idle because the drivers are idle.
Holy shit, people are dying in Australia because temps reach 120F. I agree w/ Tim – stick it out, wimps.
Timmy, Timmy, Timmy, they don’t build office towers with windows because people would be jumping out of them after reading some of these stupid bitches. LOL.
Shit, so that’s where Ginger went.
I’m with Tim – air conditioning is balls. We fucking freeze and fucking bitch about freezing 10 months out of the year… so what do we do when summer gets here? Crank the AC. It’s petarded.
What’s wrong with being warm?????????
(The extra question marks mean I’m super serial.)
Petarded – that’s a new one.
i have ac in my car and almost never use it. I’d say MAYBE a few days a year. But that’s my car. It’s a little different with 50, 60 people, a decent percentage of whom seem to have trouble with the terms “soap” and “deodorant”, all crammed into one space together. If the windows are open and there is a breeze or if you pick a bit of speed (unlike downtown), it’s not so bad. If there’s no breeze, you’re fucked.
Also I hate when people assume that just because someone doesn’t like something, that they are uncultured, untravelled, or simply don’t know any better (joeblow’s comment). I’ve been to a few places where you can barely breath outside. Wtf does that have to do with anything?
Although the AC in the buses is nice, I’d have to say it’s extraneous, as the windows being open works just as well(as long as the bus keeps moving). There’s no reason they should be idling in the summer though, if there’s no AC in the bus. Cars in traffic are much bigger offenders, especially when you consider for every bus on the road, there’s probably 3 cars.
Qwerty— You keep talking like that, and you’ll end up seeing ManBearPig. We all know how that will end up.
I agree with TTFN
no matter what they do someone won’t be happy!
I was wondering when someone here would comment on the idler ad on the buses. It is a delicious bit of ironing I think.
Anyhoo, the policy is to shut the bus off if you know you’re going to be idling more than 3 minutes, unless it’s for heating/cooling reasons. Stepping outside into the shade works for me to cool down with an idle bus. If the bus is in a terminal with space issues *coughMumfordBridgeLacewoodcough*, it is likely keeping the engine on in case it has to find a new home quickly to make room for an in service bus.
If it bothers you that much, don’t take it up with the driver (who will likely simply ignore you), just call and report it if it’s excessive (I’m talking more than 10 minutes here, not 3:01).
I see there a number of commenters here who say, “I agree with Tim” or “I agree with Cranky.” So in lieu of having an opinion of my own, I would like go on record to say that I agree 100% agree with Qwerty. Not her actual comment per se… I haven’t actually read her comment… But I am sure it was a well thought out and very insightful remark…. Hope this helps….
Floyd?
*tap tap*
Also, PDG, I can’t help but let you know that I love the idea of a “delicious bit of ironing”. Makes me think of making waffles with a clothes iron.
mmmmm waffle cone ice creams.
My dad lived in California for years and he told me that you adjust to the heat — something about your blood thinning out or something. I dunno if that’s true or not, but I can definitely see how someone who’s lived in a certain hot area can tolerate the heat better than someone who hasn’t. Funny thing *is* when I lived in Ottawa, which is MUCH hotter than NS it was hot, but tolerable (although I DID live in a house with central AC but when I went outside it was ok — didn’t bother me in the least)….but when I came back to NS the heat the next summer did bother me. However, I’d laugh at the people bitching about the heat when I came home after my summer in Ottawa. I thought it was nice and breezy.
ANyway, I think it’s all about adapting to your surroundings. Might not be hot to someone who’s lived in a very hot climate, but to us NS whiners, it sure as hell *is* uncomfortable 😛
Also: Cranky for Prime Minister.
Sounds logical to me. After all there is a group of motorcycle riders in the city trying to convince HRM to give them free parking because they say that their $50,000 exhaust spewing Harleys are “Environmentally Friendl”. I guess anything is possible.
I love having AC on the bus. Its not needed if you have window open but its certainly nice. We keep paying more and more for busses and I like to get my money’s worth, especially me where I pay to get on the link everyday. Also I usually get on the bus after I’m done at the gym and hate it being all warm. I am not a fan of the busses idling though. In Sackvegas they usually turn them off if they are getting out to smoke or pee.
Tap Tap