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May 2009

by: Jamie Skimming, P.Eng.Manager, Air QualityCity of London

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The City of London would like to thank Diane Szoller, Kim Stover, and Selena Flood from the ThamesRegion Ecological Association (TREA) for their hard work and dedication in engaging several of theparticipants in planning and carrying out the idling surveys throughout Fall 2008 and Winter 2009.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The City of London received $52,500 in funding from Natural Resources Canada’s ecoENERGY forPersonal Vehicles Program to carry out a project to test out ability to change driver idling behaviour atidling “hot spots” in London. The City of London worked in partnership with the Thames RegionEcological Association, who was primarily responsible for planning and implementing the field surveys.

The first goal of the project was to measure the effectiveness of visual prompts (e.g., Idle Free Zonesigns) in reducing the incidence and duration of idling at locations where idling is likely to occur.Specifically, there were four different location types that were surveyed:

1. Daycares - where parents/caregivers may leave vehicles idling when dropping off children,2. Schools - where parents/caregivers may leave vehicles idling while waiting to pick up children,3. Workplaces and Institutions - where drivers may leave vehicles idling while waiting for passengers

or dropping off items, and4. Commercial Plazas - where drivers may leave vehicles idling while running errands.

The second goal of the project was to measure the effectiveness of a multi-media advertising campaign(print ads, radio ads) in reducing the incidence and duration of idling at locations where no visualprompts were provided. The third goal of the project was to measure the influence, if any, of seasonaltemperatures on the incidence and duration of idling.

Between September 2008 and March 2009, four sets of surveys were carried out at the followinglocations on Table i:

Table i – Locations for the Control and Intervention Groups

Category Control Group Intervention GroupSchools Princess Elizabeth

St. Martin’sSir Isaac Brock

White Oaks (2 locations)TweedsmuirKensal ParkSte. Anne’s

Daycares Chelsea GreenPiccadilly PlaceLittle Acorn

ABC AdelaideABC MaitlandElmwood AvenueHuron HeightsRowntree ParkABC SpringbankLondon Day Nursery

Workplaces &Institutions

Fanshawe CollegeLHSC – South St. Hospital

LHSC – Victoria Hospital (4 locations)LHSC – University Hospital (3locations)St. Joseph’s HospitalLac-Mac LimitedGDLS CanadaParkwood Hospital1

CommercialPlazas

RioCan – Wellington/CommissionersRioCan – Wonderland/ CommissionersRioCan – Adelaide/Cheapside

Ascona PlazaWerbar MallTD-Canada Trust Bank2

1Originally part of control group, signs installed at the location in error by the hospital

2Started late; only two sets of surveys (one baseline in January 2009, follow-up survey in February 2009)

Baseline and Follow-Up Idling Survey ResultsTable ii summarizes the average results from the September 2008 baseline survey and all of the follow-up surveys:

Table ii – Average Idling Incidence and Duration for the Control and Intervention Groups

Control Group Intervention GroupCategory SurveyPeriod Vehicles

IdlingAverage Duration(minutes:seconds)

VehiclesIdling

Average Duration(minutes:seconds)

Sept. – Oct. 38% 02:41 26% 02:31Oct. – Nov. 39% 03:22 38% 03:16Nov. – Dec. 51% 03:13 38% 03:39

Schools

Jan. – Feb. 6% 04:04 25% 04:02


Daycares

Jan. – Feb. 6% 01:40 2% 01:18



Jan. – Feb. 35% 01:52 19% 03:39

Sept. – Oct. 21% 01:23 No data No dataOct. – Nov. 23% 01:50 17% 02:36Nov. – Dec. 38% 02:50 22% 01:46

CommercialPlazas

Jan. – Feb. 5% 02:29 1% 05:30

As seen from follow-up results for January and February, the incidence of idling dropped for both theintervention group and the control group in each category. This suggests that the advertising campaignappears to have influenced the behaviour of drivers at locations without signs, and that the combinationof signs and advertising appears to have a greater influence on behaviour than advertising alone

Table iii illustrates the fuel use and associated greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) associated with thechanges to idling incidence and duration for the four survey periods.

Note that these results are best used to provide an order of magnitude impact of idling at theselocations. Also, there may be multiple idling locations at any workplace or institution. For example, thisproject studied four locations at the London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) Victoria Hospital campus.

For the intervention group locations, the number of idling vehicles was observed to have been reducedsignificantly at 20 out of 26 locations. This would suggest that signs were effective at most locations,but that there were circumstances at other locations (e.g., visibility of signs, nature of driver activity) thatreduced their effectiveness.

Table iii – Average Fuel Wasted and GHG Emissions from Idling for the Control and Intervention Groups

Control Group Intervention GroupCategory Survey PeriodAverage Fuel

Wasted(L/month)

Average GHGEmissions(kg/month)

Average FuelWasted

(L/month)

Average GHGEmissions(kg/month)

Sept. – Oct. 40 94 46 100Oct. – Nov. 54 130 76 180Nov. – Dec. 69 160 64 150

Schools

Jan. – Feb. 19 44 27 63


Daycares

Jan. – Feb. 5 11 1 2



Jan. – Feb. 190 470 140 340

Sept. – Oct. 190 450 n/a n/aOct. – Nov. 260 600 130 310Nov. – Dec. 410 950 120 280

Plaza

Jan. – Feb. 78 180 23 52

Impact of Signs AloneAs for the effectiveness of signs alone, the data above does not show this, given that many of the sitesdid not have their signs up by the time the second follow-up survey took place. However, survey resultsfor those sites that did have signs up prior to the start of the advertising campaign showed promisingresults. For example:

Incidents in idling at Victoria Hospital Emergency dropped from around 83% to 5% after signswere installed,

Incidents in idling at Victoria Hospital Zone E dropped from around 65% to below 5% aftersigns were installed, and

Incidents in idling at Kensal Park Public School dropped from around 45% to 4% after signswere installed.

This suggests that signs alone are effective at influencing behaviour.

Effectiveness of Multi-media AdvertisingNordex Research carried out a phone survey of 300 households to determine recollection of the anti-idling advertising campaign. Based on the results of the phone survey, radio ads were shown to be themost effective, with up to 31 percent of respondents recalling radio ads about idling, compared to 16percent for newspaper ads and 11 percent for billboards. According to Nordex, these are “satisfactoryresults” for a campaign such as this.

Data from the control groups for January/February 2009 would suggest that the multi-media advertisingcampaign had a measurable impact on driver behaviour at all locations, if you assume that the onlydifference between the November/December 2008 dataset and the January/February 2009 dataset isthe advertising campaign. The results measured are higher than what you would expect given theresults of the Nordex Research survey results.

Impact of Seasonal Temperatures on Idling BehaviourWith the exception of workplaces and institutions, increases in the duration of idling were observed asthe seasonal temperatures dropped. Increases in the incidence of idling were also observed at schoolsand commercial plazas ,and was observed primarily at the hospital and school locations.

Cost-EffectivenessIt appears that placing Idle Free Zone signs at idling “hot spots” with relatively high traffic volumes andincidence of idling (e.g., schools, workplaces, institutions, commercial plazas) could be cost effective.For example, at a school location requiring five signs, it is estimated that the signs would reduce idling-related GHG emissions by about 80 kilograms per month, or around 0.8 tonnes per year. If you assumethat the sign has an effective lifespan of five years, and that one sign costs around $20, then the costper tonne GHG reduced for the City of London is around $25 to $30 per tonne.

If fuel savings by Londoners are taken into account, then each sign would have a simple payback timein the 2-4 months range. For plazas, workplaces, and institutions, the cost per tonne GHG reduced forthe City of London is around the $5 to $15 per tonne range, with a simple payback time of 1-2 months.

Note that this does not take into account the potential added benefit associated with changes in driveridling behaviour at other locations in London.

Recommendations

1. Given that this project was the second project to indicate that high-visibility signs can reduce idling,the City of London should continue to use signs as part of its anti-idling efforts.

2. Any future anti-idling advertising campaign should include the use of pre-campaign and post-campaign surveys of driver behaviour to provide additional data on the effectiveness of multi-mediaadvertising campaigns.

3. Future multi-media advertising campaigns should test the use of television advertising, ideallyduring local news broadcasts, to determine the cost-effectiveness of this medium.

TABLE of CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSEXECUTIVE SUMMARYTABLE of CONTENTS

1. PURPOSE ..................................................................................................................................... 12. DESCRIPTION .............................................................................................................................. 13. METHODOLOGY FOR MEASURING IDLING BEHAVIOUR ......................................................... 43.1. Field Survey of Driver Behaviour ................................................................................................ 43.2. Analysis of Survey Data ............................................................................................................. 43.3. Calculation of Idling-Related Greenhouse Gas Emissions.......................................................... 54. EDUCATION, AWARENESS, AND PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS................................................ 54.1. Idle Free Zone Signs.................................................................................................................. 54.2. Posters and Other Materials....................................................................................................... 64.3. Multi-Media Advertising Campaign ............................................................................................. 65. RESULTS ...................................................................................................................................... 75.1. Baseline and Follow-Up Idling Survey Results ........................................................................... 75.2. Impact of Signs Alone ................................................................................................................ 85.3. Effectiveness of Multi-Media Advertising .................................................................................... 85.4. Impact of Seasonal Temperatures on Idling Behaviour .............................................................. 95.5. Fuel Use and Associated Greenhouse Gas Emissions............................................................... 96. COST-EFFECTIVENESS............................................................................................................. 127. CHALLENGES AND LESSONS LEARNED ................................................................................. 128. RECOMMENDATIONS................................................................................................................ 14

Table 1 – List of Locations for the Control and Intervention Groups....................................................... 1Table 2 – Idling Incidence and Duration for the Control and Intervention Groups................................... 7Table 3 – Fuel Wasted & GHG Emissions from Idling for the Control & Intervention Groups ................. 9Table 4 – Estimated Cost-Effectiveness of Signs at Each Location ……………………………………….12

Figure 1 – Map of Idling Survey Locations ............................................................................................. 2Figure 2 – Idling at School Locations ................................................................................................... 10Figure 3 – Idling at Daycare Locations................................................................................................. 10Figure 4 – Idling at Workplaces & Institutions ...................................................................................... 11Figure 5 – Idling at Commercial Retail Plazas...................................................................................... 11

Appendix 1 – Survey Results for Individual LocationsAppendix 2 – Examples of Idle Free Zone SignsAppendix 3 – Examples of Posters and Other MaterialsAppendix 4 – Examples from the Multi-Media Advertising CampaignAppendix 5 – Thames Region Ecological Association (TREA) FINAL REPORT

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1. PURPOSE

The primary purpose of this project was to address driver behaviour with respect to vehicle use inLondon. The main focus of the project was on excessive idling of vehicle engines, in particular fourlocation groups where idling behaviour is prone to happen:

1. Daycares - where parents/caregivers may leave vehicles idling when dropping off children;2. Schools - where parents/caregivers may leave vehicles idling while waiting to pick up children;3. Workplaces and Institutions - where drivers may leave vehicles idling while waiting for

passengers or dropping off items; and4. Commercial Plazas - where drivers may leave vehicles idling while running errands.

The second purpose of the project was to measure the effectiveness of a multi-media advertisingcampaign (print ads, radio ads) in reducing the incidence and duration of idling at locations where novisual prompts were provided.

The third purpose of the project was to measure the influence, if any, of seasonal temperatures on theincidence and duration of idling.

2. DESCRIPTION

Between September 2008 and March 2009, four sets of surveys were carried out at the followinglocations:

Table 1 – List of Locations for the Control and Intervention Groups

Category Control Group Intervention GroupSchools Princess Elizabeth

St. Martin’sSir Isaac Brock

White Oaks (2 locations)TweedsmuirKensal ParkSte. Anne’s

Daycares Chelsea GreenPiccadilly PlaceLittle Acorn

ABC AdelaideABC MaitlandElmwood AvenueHuron HeightsRowntree ParkABC SpringbankLondon Day Nursery


Fanshawe CollegeLHSC – South St. Hospital

LHSC – Victoria Hospital (4 locations)LHSC – University Hospital (3locations)St. Joseph’s HospitalLac-Mac LimitedGDLS CanadaParkwood Hospital3

CommercialPlazas

RioCan – Wellington/CommissionersRioCan – Wonderland/ CommissionersRioCan – Adelaide/Cheapside

Ascona PlazaWerbar MallTD-Canada Trust Bank4

The following map (Figure 1) also illustrates the locations of the idling surveys.

3Originally part of control group, signs installed at the location in error by the hospital

4Started later; two sets of surveys (one baseline in January 2009, follow-up survey in February 2009)

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Figure 1 - Map of Idling Survey Locations

For all categories, this project made use of a control group and an intervention group in order tomeasure the effectiveness of the campaign. As a minimum, each group would consist of three (3)locations.

At the intervention group locations, visual prompts in the form of Idle Free Zone signs were used inorder to influence driver behaviour at these locations. At the school and daycare locations, the Idle FreeZone signs were supported by education and awareness programs prepared by TREA with additionalmaterials provided by the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) and the City of London. At workplaces& institutions, Idle Free Zone signs were supported by workplace posters and newsletter tips.

At the control group locations, no visual prompts or other materials were used, except for the massmedia campaign that took place at the end of the project.

At each location, baseline data was taken prior to the use of any visual prompts or other interventions.Given that it was expected that seasonal temperatures would influence the driver idling behaviour,follow-up surveys were conducted at different times of the year to assess the impact of ambienttemperature on idling behaviour.

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Layered on top of this location-specific campaign was a multi-media anti-idling advertising campaignthat focussed on idling behaviours at these locations. These advertisements started in late January2009 and extended until the end of February 2009. Any change in the general public’s idling behaviourwould be picked up in the January/February 2009 follow-up survey at the control group locations. It wasanticipated that the weather conditions during the December 2008 and February 2009 follow-upsurveys were similar enough to minimize any potential impact that weather would have on idlingbehaviour. As a follow-up to the advertising campaign, Nordex Research was also retained to carry outa phone survey of 300 households to determine the ability to recall the anti-idling advertising campaign.

Specific details related to each location group have been provided below:

1. Commercial Plaza Campaign Phase 2 – The target audience for this project were drivers runningerrands at commercial retail plazas. This project built upon the lessons learned from an earlier idlingproject in Winter 2007. That project was inconclusive regarding the effectiveness of interventions(visual prompts like signs, etc.), mainly due to the significant differences between the baseline andfollow-up survey results for the control group, where ambient temperature appears to haveinfluenced driver idling behaviour. However, the results of the 2007 study suggest that visualprompts had some impact on behaviour.

This project revisited some of those plazas involved with the previous study, and was expanded toinclude other plazas. Surveys were done at different times of the year to assess and factor out theimpact of ambient temperature, if any, on idling behaviour. This project also focused solely onpassive intervention techniques (visual prompts such as signs and posters), since personalinterventions (i.e., handing out flyers to drivers) reach relatively few drivers and are not practical forcity-wide application.

2. School Pilot Campaign – The target audiences for this project were parents who drive theirchildren to school/daycare, daycare providers, and school administration. This project provided IdleFree Zone signs in addition to posters and an education program that focused on parents ofchildren using these facilities. Resources for teachers were also provided. This project built uponprevious idling work done for the London and Area Active & Safe Routes to School (ASRTS)program.

3. Daycare Pilot Campaign – Daycare centres were a new target segment for the program, sinceprevious active transportation programs have not focused on pre-school aged children. This projecttook advantage of a parent’s concern about exposure of children to pollution, and helped the parent(as the vehicle driver) make the connection between vehicle idling and air pollution in order toencourage change in idling behaviour.

4. Workplaces and Institutions - The target audiences for this project were the employees andvisitors to these workplaces and institutions. Idling “hot spots” such as entrances, employee drop-offareas, and loading docks were identified for the use of Idle Free Zone signs. Posters were alsoprovided and awareness-raising materials were also developed for inclusion within internalcommunication materials at some locations.

Although the initial intention was to also include other messaging related to vehicle selection andmaintenance, it was decided to keep the focus solely on vehicle idling in order to keep the messagesimple and focused on curtailing idling behaviour.

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3. METHODOLOGY FOR MEASURING IDLING BEHAVIOUR

3.1. Field Survey of Driver Behaviour

a. Observations were carried out by a person visually observing whether a vehicle was idling andthe amount of time the vehicle was idling for. Surveyors were instructed to remaininconspicuous (e.g., remain in a vehicle or doorway) to minimize the potential for drivers to altertheir behaviour as a result of being knowingly observed.

b. For consistency, surveys were run during the same time of day for all sites within a specificgroup. For example, all school surveys were scheduled to take place between 3:00 p.m. and4:00 p.m. in order to make sure that the same behaviour (i.e., parents waiting to pick up childrenat the end of the school day) was being measured.

c. Each location required three separate daily observations for each survey. This was to ensurethat the results obtained were reasonably representative of idling behaviour during that timeperiod. For example, School “A” would require:

Three, 1-hour observations taken on Sept. 13th, 14th, and 15th as part of the BaselineSurvey;

Three, 1-hour observations taken on Nov. 3rd, 5th, and 7th as part of the October/NovemberFollow-Up Survey;

Three, 1-hour observations taken on Dec. 3rd, 4th, and 5th as part of the December Follow-Up Survey; and

Three, 1-hour observations taken on Feb. 1st , 2nd, and 5th as part of the February Follow-Up Survey.

d. Observations were recorded on a survey log sheet (see Appendix 3). Information that wasrecorded on the log sheet included:

Information on the size of vehicle observed idling (car, SUV/minivan, or heavy-duty vehicle) Information on the approximate duration of vehicle idling, if observed. Given the

impracticality of measuring the exact amount of time each particular vehicle was observedidling, staff carrying out the observation were asked to estimate the approximate idling timeto the nearest minute.

Information as to whether the vehicle was left idling without an occupant, and Information as to whether the vehicle idling was a fleet vehicle (i.e., delivery truck, school

bus) or a private vehicle.

3.2. Analysis of Survey Data

Each location was tracked with its own Microsoft Excel workbook file, with a worksheet provided foreach observation taken. The information collected on the survey log sheets were entered into theworksheet.

A separate Microsoft Excel workbook file was used to summarize the data from each location anddetermine the average incidence of idling and duration of idling for that location. Appendix 1 containsthe summarized data for each location.

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3.3. Calculation of Idling-Related Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Idling-related fuel use and associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were determined using themethodology established by Natural Resources Canada. Specifically:

Idle fuel flow (L/hr) = (0.6 L/hr per litre of engine displacement) × (engine displacement in litres) Idle fuel use (L/month) = (idle fuel flow) × (idle duration per day) × (days in month) Idle GHG emissions (kg/month) = (idle fuel use) × (GHG emission factor)

For engine displacement, the following was assumed:

Car – 2.5 L engine displacement SUV/minivan – 3.5 L engine displacement Heavy-duty vehicle – 6 L engine displacement

For locations, the following was assumed for the equivalent amount of time that idling occurred at thatlocation at the observed frequency and duration:

schools – 2 hours/day, 20 days/month daycares – 2 hours/day, 20 days/month workplaces – 8 hours/day, 20 days/month (30 days/month for hospitals) commercial plazas – 8 hours/day, 20 days/month

Note that this is likely less than the actual hours of operation. However, observations were taken atanticipated peak times

The emission factors used for gasoline and diesel were 2.3 kilograms per litre and 2.8 kilograms perlitre respectively.

4. EDUCATION, AWARENESS, AND PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS

Appendix 2 contains examples of the Idle Free Zone signs used for the project. Appendix 3 containsexamples of the posters, and other materials developed for the project. Appendix 4 contains examplesof the materials used in the multi-media advertising campaign.

4.1. Idle Free Zone Signs

The new Idle Free Zone sign was the main awareness tool used by theproject (see image to the right). The City of London chose not to use itsexisting City of London Idling Control By-Law sign for a number of reasons:

The existing by-law signs made reference to the current allowableidling limit of five minutes. In this project, we wanted to discouragedrivers from idling for any length of time.

The City of London is considering amendments to its Idling ControlBy-Law to reduce the permitted idling time.

Given that these signs would be used at specific locations (e.g.,schools, hospitals, etc.), we wanted to offer the option of co-brandingthe Idle Free Zone signs with the participant’s logo.

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The City of London also wanted some flexibility to test preferences for sign colour, sign size,and mirrored text readable through a rear-view mirror.

The option for co-branding the signs was most popular at the participating workplaces & institutions,examples of which are shown in Appendix 1.

For sign colour, participants were given the option for the sign background: “standard” white, green,“caution sign” yellow-orange, and red. The vast majority chose to use the white background, althoughKensal Park Public School asked for large red signs for use later on in the project.

For sign size, most participants selected the “standard” 11”x17” size. However, some larger signs(22”x34”) were selected by workplaces (GDLS, Lac-Mac) and one school (Kensal Park). Mirror-textsigns were also produced for use at Lac-Mac’s loading docks.

4.2. Posters and Other Materials

At the start of the project, a set of posters was designed to complementthe new Idle Free Zone signs (see example to the right). As with the newsigns, participants were offered the option to co-brand with their logos, aswell as the background colour of the posters (white or green).

As with the signs, most participants selected the poster design with thewhite background, although some posters with a green background wereproduced. Workplaces were also more willing to co-brand the posters withtheir logo.

At the request of TREA, a new bookmark was designed to complementthe new signs and posters for inclusion in the education packages TREAwas providing to schools and daycares to be distributed to parents.TREA’s education package also included colouring pages, pollutionreduction tips and resources for teachers, TREA brochures, MLHU’s anti-idling bylaw brochure, information on the Active and Safe Routes toSchool program, and other related government publications. TREA alsoprepared newsletter write-ups. In addition, a challenge was organized with students involving thedistribution of the “I Don’t Idle” decal stickers.

Three of the intervention schools organized school assemblies for the students and presentations weregiven to reinforce the importance of reducing vehicle idling. At the end ofthe project, schools and daycare facilities in the control groups wereprovided the education kits, signage and posters as well so they alsobenefited from the program.

4.3. Multi-Media Advertising Campaign

For the multi-media advertising campaign, the design of the promotionalpieces borrowed elements from the project’s educational and awarenessmaterials. The campaign also introduced the slogan “Don’t Be the ‘I’ inIdle” for use in both the print and radio advertisements.

In addition to the print and radio advertisements, the City of Londonchose to produce billboards and web banner ads for use on the LondonFree Press website.

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Appendix 3 contains examples of the materials used in the multi-media advertising campaign.

5. RESULTS

5.1. Baseline and Follow-Up Idling Survey Results

The original work plan called for the visual prompts to be in place in time for the second follow-upsurvey (November/December 2008), so that data on the effectiveness of the Idle Free Zone signs alonecould be gathered. However, delays were encountered in the production of the signs as well as theinstallation of the signs after delivery to the locations. Some signs were up in time for theNovember/December follow-up survey, as discussed below. However, at most locations, data on theeffectiveness of signs was only available for the third and final follow-up survey in January/February2009.

It was noted that there can be significant variability between locations within a specific group. Forexample, at some locations in the daycare intervention group, the incidence of idling was very lowthroughout the baseline survey, and stayed low throughout the follow-up surveys. Therefore, this willtend to increase the standard deviation of the results for the daycare intervention group. Similarly, forworkplaces and institutions, the inherent behaviour of drivers at hospital entrances may be differentthan those drivers dropping off items at a loading dock.

The following table summarizes the average results from the September 2008 baseline survey and thethree follow-up surveys:

Table 2 – Idling Incidence and Duration for the Control and Intervention Groups

Control Group Intervention GroupCategory SurveyPeriod Vehicles Idling Average

Duration(minutes)

Vehicles Idling AverageDuration(minutes)

Sept. – Oct. 38% ± 9% 02:41 ± 00:51 26% ± 8% 02:31 ± 00:31Oct. – Nov. 39% ± 9% 03:22 ± 00:22 38% ± 17% 03:16 ± 00:27Nov. – Dec. 51% ± 9% 03:13 ± 00:47 38% ± 23% 03:39 ± 01:39

Schools

Jan. – Feb. 6% ± 2% 04:04 ± 01:16 25% ± 24% 04:02 ± 00:42


Daycares

Jan. – Feb. 6% ± 5% 01:40 ± 01:38 2% ± 3% 01:18 ± 01:30



Jan. – Feb. 35% ± 50% 01:52 ± 02:38 19% ± 20% 03:39 ± 02:13

Sept. – Oct. 21% ± 6% 01:23 ± 00:15 No data No dataOct. – Nov. 23% ± 8% 01:50 ± 00:19 17% ± 5% 02:36 ± 01:31Nov. – Dec. 38% ± 5% 02:50 ± 00:36 22% ± 6% 01:46 ± 01:05

Plaza

Jan. – Feb. 5% ± 6% 02:29 ± 00:24 1% ± 1% 05:30 ± 04:57

As seen from follow-up results for January and February, the incidents of idling dropped at both theintervention group and the control group. This suggests the following:

The advertising campaign appears to have influenced the behaviour of drivers at the controlgroup locations (no other interventions).

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The combination of signs and advertising appears to have a greater influence on behaviour thanadvertising alone.

Another way to interpret the results is to look at observations from individual locations (see Appendix1). For the intervention group locations, the number of idling vehicles was reduced at:

5 out of 7 daycare locations, 9 out of 11 workplace/institution locations, 3 out of 5 school locations, and 3 out of 3 plaza locations.

This would suggest that signs and other interventions were effective at most locations, but that therewere circumstances at other locations (e.g., visibility of signs, nature of driver activity) that reduced theireffectiveness.

5.2. Impact of Signs Alone

As for the effectiveness of signs alone, the data above does not show this, given that many of the sitesdid not have their signs up by the time the second follow-up survey took place. However, survey resultsfor those sites that did have signs up prior to the start of the advertising campaign show promisingresults. For example:

Incidents in idling at the University Hospital loading dock dropped from around 10-20% to under10% after signs installed

Incidents in idling at Victoria Hospital Emergency dropped from around 83% to 5% after signswere installed

Incidents in idling at Victoria Hospital Zone E dropped from around 65% to below 5% aftersigns were installed

Incidents in idling at Kensal Park Public School dropped from around 45% to 4% after signswere installed

This suggests that signs alone are effective at influencing behaviour.

It is important to note that the intervention group participants also received supporting tools, such as:

Posters for use on information bulletin boards, Information tips in newsletters, and “I Don’t Idle” window stickers for distribution to parents or staff.

5.3. Effectiveness of Multi-Media Advertising

Nordex Research carried out a phone survey of 300 households to determine the recollection of theanti-idling advertising campaign. Based on the results of the phone survey, radio ads were shown to bethe most effective, with up to 31 percent of respondents recalling radio ads about idling, compared to16 percent for newspaper ads and 11 percent for billboards. According to Nordex, these are“satisfactory results” for a campaign such as this.

Data from the control groups for January/February 2009 would suggest that the multi-media advertisingcampaign had a measurable impact on driver behaviour at all locations, if you assume that the onlydifference between the November/December 2008 dataset and the January/February 2009 dataset isthe advertising campaign. The results measured are higher than what you would expect given theresults of the Nordex Research survey results.

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5.4. Impact of Seasonal Temperatures on Idling Behaviour

With the exception of workplaces and institutions, increases in the duration of idling were observed asthe seasonal temperatures dropped. Increases in the incidence of idling were also observed at schoolsand commercial plazas. This is likely because drivers are waiting for someone at these sites, whereasat workplaces and institutions the drivers are using parking lots and entering the site.

5.5. Fuel Use and Associated Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Table 3 and Figures 2 through 5 illustrate the fuel use and associated greenhouse gas emissionassociated with the changes to idling incidence and duration for the four survey periods.

In terms of the impact at these locations of the interventions on fuel use and emissions, reductionswere observed at all locations. The greatest impact was observed at workplaces, institutions, andcommercial plazas. Note that these results will be weighed towards those locations with greaternumbers of vehicles, which also increases the deviation ranges of the reported data. Therefore, theresults reported are best used to provide an order of magnitude impact of idling at these locations.However, this data does illustrate that the impact of idling at a typical daycare is about an order ofmagnitude lower than a typical school, and two orders of magnitudes below commercial plazas,workplaces, and institutions.

Note also that there may be multiple idling locations at any workplace or institution. For example, thisproject studied four locations at the LHSC Victoria Hospital campus in different environments such asthe loading dock, patient drop-off zones and an emergency care entrance.

Also, fuel use and GHG emissions have been reported on a per month basis, since the incidence andduration of idling appears to be influenced by seasonal weather.

Table 2 – Fuel Wasted and GHG Emissions from Idling for the Control and Intervention Groups

Control Group Intervention GroupCategory Survey PeriodAverage Fuel

Wasted(L/month)

AverageGHG

Emissions(kg/month)

Average FuelWasted

(L/month)

AverageGHG

Emissions(kg/month)

Sept. – Oct. 40 ± 20 94 ± 46 46 ± 35 100 ± 80Oct. – Nov. 54 ± 11 130 ± 26 76 ± 48 180 ± 110Nov. – Dec. 69 ± 16 160 ± 37 64 ± 30 150 ± 68

Schools

Jan. – Feb. 19 ± 9 44 ± 21 27 ± 17 63 ± 40


Daycares

Jan. – Feb. 5 ± 6 11 ± 13 1 ± 1 2 ± 3



Jan. – Feb. 190 ± 270 470 ± 660 140 ± 160 340 ± 380

Sept. – Oct. 190 ± 210 450 ± 470 No data No dataOct. – Nov. 260 ± 210 600 ± 470 130 ± 150 310 ± 350Nov. – Dec. 410 ± 280 950 ± 640 120 ± 150 280 ± 360

Plaza

Jan. – Feb. 78 ± 72 180 ± 170 23 ± 26 52 ± 60

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Figure 2

Idling at School Locations

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Idling at Daycare Locations

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Figure 4

Idling at Workplaces & Institutions

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Idling at Commercial Retail Plazas

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6. COST-EFFECTIVENESS

As a result of the project, the City of London now has information from which it can develop future idlingcontrol promotional materials.

It appears that placing Idle Free Zone signs at idling “hot spots” with relatively high traffic volumes andincidence of idling (e.g., schools, workplaces, institutions, commercial plazas) is cost effective.

For example, at a school location requiring five signs, it is estimated that the signs would reduce idling-related GHG emissions by about 80 kilograms per month, or around 0.8 tonnes per year. If you assumethat the sign has an effective lifespan of five years, and that one sign costs around $20, then the costper tonne GHG reduced for the City of London is around $25 to $30 per tonne. This also does not takeinto account the fuel saved by drivers who are prompted to curtail idling. If fuel savings by Londonersare taken into account, then each sign would have a simple payback time in the 2-4 months range. Forplazas, workplaces, and institutions, the cost per tonne GHG reduced for the City of London is aroundthe $5 to $15 per tonne range, with a simple payback time of 1-2 months.

Note that this does not take into account the potential added benefit associated with changes in driveridling behaviour at other locations in London.

Table 4 - Estimated Cost-Effectiveness of Signs at Each Location

Location No. ofSigns

Fuel Saved(L/month)

GHGReductions(kg/month)

CostEffectiveness

($/tonne)

Payback Timewith FuelSavings

School 5 20 - 40 70 - 90 $25 - $30 2-4 months

Daycare 2 5 - 10 10 - 15 $45 - $55 6-10 months

Workplace/Institution 5 50 - 70 120 - 140 $10 - $15 2 months

Commercial Retail Plaza 5 100 - 120 220 - 260 $5 - $10 1 month

In terms of a cost comparison, the typical value for a greenhouse gas emissions offset purchased froman emissions offsetting company in Canada is around $15 to $20 per tonne

The month-long multi-media campaign cost around $20,000 to carry out, and it appears to havereduced greenhouse gas emissions from idling anywhere from about 25 percent to almost 75 percent atthe control group locations. If you assume that a similar-sized campaign is needed four times per year(once per season) to maintain desired effect, and that the campaign results in an average of oneminute per day reduction in idling per driver, then the City of London’s cost per tonne GHG reduced isaround $20/tonne. On a cost per tonne basis, this is comparable to using signs at idling “hot spots”, andit has a much larger reach. However, total costs for a sustained multi-media advertising campaign arecost prohibitive. In addition, this is the first time that an attempt has been made to measure the impactof an advertising campaign on driver idling behaviour in London.

7. CHALLENGES AND LESSONS LEARNED

The challenges encountered by this project could have been partially mitigated by allowing foradditional time for project planning, making up for the time lost due to the delayed start of the project. Inhindsight, it may have been more beneficial to sacrifice the September/October surveys. This timecould have been used to address the project logistics issues, such as determining ahead of time theschedule for engaging participants and the installation of signs, and rescheduling surveys to take thisinto account rather than striving to maintain the original survey schedule. We would have lost some

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ability to determine the impact of seasonal weather on idling behaviour, but would have gained betterinformation on the effectiveness of signs.

Overall, scheduling three sets of one-hour observations at 37 locations for each survey period providedlogistical challenges. Through the use of two surveyors, TREA managed to deliver the surveys withinthe window provided for each survey period. Each surveyor was often required to visit two-to-threedifferent locations in one day to maintain the schedule. In addition, the surveyors often had to workoutdoors in inclement winter weather. For future idling survey projects, the scope of the project (numberof locations to be surveyed) should be lower (e.g., 6-12 locations) to minimize logistical issues.

It was difficult to find commercial retail plaza property managers willing to participate in the plazaintervention group. Participants were eventually secured, but this was not until October. This was themost challenging part of the program. Property managers are often located outside of London andbusy with various properties in various cities. Approximately 20 plaza owners were required to becontacted in total over the entire project in order to obtain three plaza locations for the interventiongroup.

Delivery of the signs to the intervention group participants took place about 2-3 weeks behind schedule.In addition, at many locations, there were significant delays getting signs installed at the locations giventhat the properties were responsible for installing the signs on their property. As a result, mostintervention group locations could not get their signs installed in time for the November/Decembersurveys. Future projects involving the installation of signs on private property should take into accountthe time associated with determining who is allowed to install these signs and their availability to installthem. For example, the elementary schools from both school boards were dependent on the ability oftheir school board’s facility maintenance staff to arrange times to install the signage on their behalf.Discussions for this started in November. TREA had to follow up with the schools and facilitymaintenance staff frequently to encourage the installation of the signs.

Also, the liaison for environmental education and management at the school board was only workinghalf time during the fall and then went on a leave of absence. This meant TREA had a limited time toengage schools as he was not able to help with participation.

With regards to the surveying activity, the field log sheets should be modified to include the use of asimplified site plan to illustrate the approximate area being observed for the purposes of the survey.This will help ensure consistency in observations in cases where different staff are carrying out thesurveys. Although this is not much of an issue for a relatively small site such as a day-care or school, itis important for large properties, such as a commercial retail plaza, to ensure that the observers areusing the same area for the basis of their observations.

At hospitals, fleet vehicles observed were in the form of taxi cabs, ambulances, Para-Transit vehicles,city buses and police vehicles. Most of the unattended vehicles idling at hospitals occurred when adriver would assist a patient in or out of the hospital or when visiting with other drivers. Vehicles atbusiness sites were comprised of construction/trade vehicles, Emergency Response Team light duty-trucks, and transport trucks. Refrigerator trucks, delivery trucks, couriers, and postal vehicles wereprimarily found at commercial plazas.

From the Nordex Research survey, the use of radio ads was deemed to be the most cost-effective formof advertising in terms of providing a message that could be recalled when prompted. The Nordex studyalso recommended the use of TV advertising (not used for this project) during local news broadcasts infuture campaigns. It was assumed by project staff that TV ads would be too expensive, but this shouldbe reconsidered for future projects.

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8. RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Given that this project was the second project to indicate that high-visibility signs can reduce idling,the City of London should continue to use signs as part of its anti-idling efforts. For future use,consideration should be given to sign size and location to ensure that any signs installed are visibleand legible to vehicle drivers in that location.

2. Although the results of this project suggested that a multi-media advertising campaign can reduceidling, any future advertising campaign should include the use of pre-campaign and post-campaignsurveys of driver behaviour in order to provide additional data on the effectiveness of multi-mediaadvertising campaigns.

3. Future multi-media advertising campaigns should test the use of television advertising, ideallyduring local news broadcasts, to determine the cost-effectiveness of this medium.

Appendix 1 – Survey Results for Individual Locations

Appendix 2 – Examples of Idle Free Zone Signs

ABC Daycare (Maitland St.) Ascona Mall

Kensal Park Public School

Idle Free Zone Design Options (with Co-Branding)

Appendix 3 – Examples of Posters and Other Materials

Fall 2008 Poster Design Options

January 2009 Poster Window Sticker

Bookmark

Appendix 4 – Examples from the Multi-Media Advertising Campaign

Scrolling advertisement on the LondonFree Press newspaper website

Appendix 5 – Thames Region Ecological Association (TREA) FINAL REPORT

Thames Region Ecological Association (TREA) FINAL REPORT – March 2009

Framework:The project has been delivered consistent with the framework TREA identified in the earlier Octoberreport.

Surveys were delivered for September into October for baseline data (3 per site). Follow-up surveyswere scheduled during November, late November/early December and in February 2009 (3 each timeper site) in order to finish by March 2009. Surveys were also expected to determine any impacts givenseasonal temperature changes regarding drivers and vehicle idling behaviours.

TREA Staffing:Diane Szoller continued to organize the scheduling, reporting and follow up with the various sites.Selena Flood and Kim Stover completed the three sets of surveys for participating sites betweenSeptember and mid-December 2009. GDLS’s third business visit was postponed until the new yeargiven their staff’s involvement and availability. Our initial contact went on maternity leave and herreplacement wanted to be accessible when the surveys took place because of the high security on thepremises.

Selena and Kim were in agreement their participation would be specifically for the fall surveys asweather conditions would make it difficult for Kim to travel into London in the new year and Selena wasfinding it difficult to stand outside at some of the sites given the cold. Their involvement was muchappreciated.

Diane Szoller took on the main role in the new year to schedule and facilitate the final round of visits.The City’s co-op student, Meaghan Murphy, was able to assist with data entry and analysis along withsupport to facilitate some of the visits in order to finish the final round by early March. These wereorganized after interventions were finalized at appropriate sites.

Extra project management time by Diane resulted overall during the project from having to obtainstaffing given co-op students were not available, gain property managers to participate, bring Wal-Marton board given at the end they only agreed to participate with the City’s Travel Wise project, keep staffproductive, reschedule visits given the delay in receiving the signs and some rescheduled visits,helping complete some of the visits, challenges in getting sites to install signage, additionalcommunications with the City.

Project Delivery:

Timeframe –Scheduling for the second and third round of survey visits to all sites took place starting the end ofOctober/beginning of November into mid-December. Diane helped Kim and Selena in order to facilitatethe surveys to finish prior to the December holiday period which likely would not provide consistency indata collection.

Based on the City’s anti-idling promotion pieces being developed, finalized and produced, the final setof surveys were started the week of January 19th rather than the beginning of January.

Signs being available in November and posters the beginning of February.

Surveys –Diane dropped off survey data weekly to City Hall after completing scheduled visits and Meaghancompiled information into single data files for each site. This process worked efficiently as Selena andKim in the fall both had separate files for a few sites depending on their availability to attend sites whichSelena did not have time to merge. Meaghan completed this task.

Meaghan was also a big help in analyzing the data given the last round of visits and analysis has beendone within a shorter window of time than in the fall. She will also organize mini-reports to theintervention participants regarding overall data collection in lieu of TREA giving the timing as theparticipants are keen to review their results.

Scheduling –Scheduling was organized up to Dec 10th regarding the 3rd round of visits with the following week madeavailable for Diane to complete any outstanding surveys. The only visit required the following week wasto GDLS to complete the 2nd round of visits. It was appreciated the visits were completed mid-December being the wind up for school break and scheduling closer to Christmas would mean driverroutines potentially change.

Control groups were started first during each round to provide more time to ensure interventions werediscussed and installation dates organized.

Two City co-op students helped with a few visits during November to ensure TREA’s scheduled visitswould finish by mid-December.

For the intervention sites, some sites had unique circumstances. As of the end of the year, only thefollowing sites had signage up – GDLS, LHSC Victoria and Parkwood campuses and ABC Nursery –Springbank.

For instance, the elementary schools from both school boards were dependent on the ability of theschool board’s facility staff to arrange times to install the signage. Dis-cussions for this started inNovember. Diane had to follow up with the schools and facility staff frequently to move the installationsalong in order for them to be completed in February.

Kensal Park PS opted to have a custodian install the signs on a weekend and was provided with anhonorarium for his assistance. This was decided after discussions with facility staff, their custodian andDiane. However, delays still occurred until Diane visited the school and had a discussion with atemporary custodian filling in for the custodian who was on holidays. This gentleman was verycooperative in finalizing the installations.

It was decided that Kensal Park PS, Sir Isaac Brock and Rowntree Nursery would benefit with signsadditionally on public streets bordering their sites and the City looked after these sign installations.

The Catholic board intervention school proposed to have posts put in the ground for their signs and sodelays occurred. Diane finally had them agree to put signs up in the interim on existing telephone polessituated around the parking lots on site until the spring thaw allows the posts to be installed.

The day care/nurseries were also dependent on the availability of a maintenance staff person thatsupported several of the sites. Diane was in touch with this person in the fall and the nurseries severaltimes and signs were installed in January at the various intervention nursery sites.

As noted in the October report, Wal-Mart expressed interest to have the program at their three retailsites but the final outcome was that their legal staff declined the project. They were open, however, toreceive follow up by the City regarding carpooling and other initiatives for their employees.

The partnership with Fanshawe College, a control group, also expressed interest to allow for furthercommunications from the City on carpooling and other strategies to improve traffic and air quality. Thecollege has a large pool of staff and the students are already working on initiatives to carpool.

The hospitals and GDLS were very prompt in having signs up at various locations although ParkwoodHospital, a control group was also found to have had signs installed. Lac-Mac experienced delays asthey were moving their location to another part of the city but signs were installed in March after variousfollow ups by Diane and the City. It was also arranged to have a display for employees to view duringlunch hours organized through Meaghan. Diane provided her with display materials initiated by Selenain the fall for consideration.

Ascona Management, a commercial plaza, experienced some delays in installing signs given staffshortages and continued responsibility of clearing winter snow. After various follow-ups given the signswere delivered mid-November, signs were put up in February. Werbar Management agreed to haveposters distributed at their Adelaide commercial plaza in lieu of signs as they were beginning roof andfront renovations at their site. Kim visited their various retailers with posters in the fall. Signs weredelivered by Diane for installation in March when work is expected to be completed.

Diane approached the TD-CT plaza on Wellington Road as TREA does their banking there. Aftervarious discussion, with Diane and then with the City with their real estate division, this branch agreedto participate with the project. They also chose to modify the city poster and put posters that faced outto the parking lot in lieu of signs in February. These were quite visible when the final surveys werebeing completed.

Overall, several of the intervention sites had to be followed up numerous times to ensure interventionsof sign installations were completed. This was critical to the completion of the final survey to observeanticipated improvements. The locations chosen overall appear to have provided a cross section ofLondon’s driver idling behaviours.

Diane asked Meaghan to facilitate the final surveys for the drive through sites that the City hadorganized.

Education and Awareness:Signs and posters were made available in November and delivered to the intervention sites. TREAeducation kits were finalized particularly for the schools and nurseries. The MLHU provided copies oftheir anti idling brochures as well to add to the kit. LHSC received a kit copy as well as they facilitate anumber of employee messages and Fanshawe College’ marketing staff, our contact, also took a copy.

The City also produced bookmarks at TREA’s suggestion. These were distributed to all the nurseriesfor distribution to parents as part of the messaging to reach the parents.

Intervention sites visited for the second round of visits in October received their kits then.All the schools and nurseries were very appreciative of the posters, kits and signs provided by TREAand the City. A TREA information kit was provided to the City to forward to NRCan.

The City also produced anti-idling decals for driver vehicle windshields. Diane contacted theintervention and control group schools to finalize how many they would like to receive at the end of the

project. Challenges within specific grades were being established to ensure the decals were usedefficiently.

Decal distribution was as follows:200 - Sir Isaac Brock PS215 - Prince Elizabeth PS300 - Tweedsmuir PS100 - St Anne’s Catholic ES520 - Kensal Park PS360 - White Oaks PS

The schools were invited to have TREA presentations through student assemblies if this could bearranged. Diane visited students at St Anne’s October 15th, Sir Isaac Brock PS on February 16th andTweedsmuir PS on February 29th. The presentations included a discussion on the importance of notidling locally, air quality, climate change and an overview of what was being done at their schools.

TREA’s tie-in with Active and Safe Routes to School’s (ASRTS) International Walk to School Day,October 8th included follow up to media to contact Sir Isaac Brock PS, a participant in this project as theLondon media school for this event.

November 7th, Kim and Diane attended the ASRTS partnership meeting (City Hall). Diane highlightedTREA’s past involvement with local schools and noted this project included idling reduction (acomponent of ASRTS) at seven schools.

Participating schools informed parent groups, school councils, neighbourhood committees, teachersand students that this project was underway. Various schools included details and tips in theirnewsletters to their school families. A parent at White Oaks PS is moving forward with walking schoolbuses from the Safe Routes to School program which TREA and the City are a part of. Presentationshave been given to the school council and a parent presentation is scheduled for the end of March.

The liaison for environmental education and management at the Thames Valley Board went on a leaveof absence in the new year and his replacement was advised about this project. She was pleased thatthe participating schools gained from the program.

In addition, control groups were provided with signs, posters, bookmarks (nurseries) and kits after theirfinal survey visits by TREA so that the control sites would also benefit from the strategies to reduceidling developed for the intervention sites.

Diane also attended a two day Toronto training workshop with Safe Routes to School facilitators fromacross Canada on March 2nd and 3rd. She took a few posters, bookmarks and decals for display asvarious communities are taking on public vehicle idling reduction campaigns. For instance, Stratford’shealth unit asked for further details on use of promotional materials and this inquiry was directed to theCity.

Meetings were held by TREA staff with contacts from London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) October6th and Lac-Mac November 13th to discuss education in more detail. LHSC published a TREA write upin the LHSC’s ‘Elements’ employee stewardship newsletter (October issue)http://www.lhsc.on.ca/ecologic/newsletr/200810.pdf and a tip list with graphics (from Nrcan’s site) for e-cast announcements to staff. This article was researched from the provincial Ministry of theEnvironment, health unit and the City’s CLEAR sites. A half page explanation of the project for anotherLHSC public newsletter ‘Page’ was also organized for the spring.

Lac-Mac was looking to have a presentation at a staff meeting as well as a display in their cafeteria.Because of their moving to another facility, it was recently decided to forego the presentation butcontinue with the display because of the move taking so much of their time. There were some initialquestions about the signs and it was noted approvals were needed for the Highbury site as it is aleased building.

Project participation during the overall project:

ICI –Control – LHSC – South St. Hospital, Parkwood Hospital and Fanshawe CollegeIntervention – LHSC – University Hospital, St. Joseph’s Hospital, Victoria Hospital, General DynamicsLand Systems Canada (GDLS), Lac-Mac (*Lac-Mac was in the process of moving so a 2nd site wassurveyed as well)

Schools –Control – Princess Elizabeth, Sir Isaac Brock, St Martin’sIntervention – White Oaks, Tweedsmuir, Kensal Park, St. Anne’s

Nurseries –Control – Chelsea Green, Piccadilly Place and Little AcornIntervention – ABC Adelaide, ABC Maitland, Elmwood Avenue, Huron Heights, Rowntree Park, ABCSpringbank, London Day Nursery King St.

Plazas –Control – RioCan sites – Wellington/Commissioners, Wonderland/ Commissioners,Adelaide/CheapsideIntervention – Werbar Management, Ascona Management and TD-CT Plaza

Another round of contacts to additional local property managers was done early October to establishintervention plaza participants. Efforts were finalized by the end of October.

This was the most challenging part of the program in that property managers are frequently out of townowners and busy with various properties in various cities. Approximately 20 plaza owners werecontacted in total over the entire project. This included a second TD-CT site where the manager was onboard but their Toronto property manager declined the project.

Field ObservationsGiven the nature of the survey, discretion was used in observing the drivers.

Significant variations in data were observed, especially at sites with a high volume of traffic such asschools, hospitals and malls, influenced by weather and visibility as the weather became colder.

SchoolsAt the majority of school sites, buses turned off their engines on arrival, and would turn the enginesback on once students started boarding, idling less than 5 minutes before departure.

Kensal Park PS – This is a French Immersion school in a mixed area of residential and commercial justback in from a busy artery of the city just west of downtown. A one way U-shaped entrance leads intothe school from the west side and then vehicles continue out to the main street on a very small sidestreet to complete the loop. This side street also has vehicles coming into the school from the otherside of the loop and in directly into their parking lot. The parking area is L-shaped and the vehicles lineup in that area to pick up children. This school has a large number of buses. Several vehicles line up

on the U-shaped entrance across from the buses and then move forward as school ends and childrencome out of the school. Most parents collect their children at this site whereas other schools many waitin their vehicles for their children to come to them.

Parking at this school covers a long stretch from one side of the school to the other. There is also asmall lot at the back of the school that empties on to another street. This school is very involved withenvironmental projects and Diane had worked on other projects with the teacher assigned by theprincipal for this initiative. This site required the most communication in order to get the signs put up butwas the only school to order large signs. These are situated all along the fence and are very visible.

On one occasion, Diane spoke to the Kensal Park PS custodian and a Facilities staff person as theywere doing their own vehicle study to find ways to improve the line up for the buses in follow up to theteacher discussing it with them. For this site, although the buses were not idling on arrival they idledjust prior to children entering the buses, Diane noted the idling as a valid entry on the data for thosebuses. This was the only site that wanted a decal for every family that attended the school - the goal toimprove vehicle idling all round.

St. Anne’s - There are two entrances for vehicles to enter this school site, both off the south side of theschool. One is a laneway adjacent to the parking lot furthest from the school where the vehicles line upfacing the school and the other entrance is at the other end of the parking lot closest to the school. Thetraffic moved along well prior to the signs being put up and the whole after school pickup period is donefairly quickly. This site is visible from the Huron Heights nursery which also participated in the project.Diane presented at an assembly at this school.

Princess Elizabeth PS - As a control group, this site will benefit from further attention. This school islocated in a mixed residential and commercial area with the side of the school (Adelaide) as well as thefront of the school (Thompson) facing two busy arteries. There is a round about at the front of theschool which the buses use and a few vehicles. The parking lot to the immediate side of the roundabout is where the majority of vehicles pull in to pick up children. This is not a big lot. Teachers areparked around the rim of the parking lot and as the vehicles pull in at the end of the school day theycreate a tight circle in the centre of the parking lot with some parking down the centre.

On a couple of poor weather days, there was considerable congestion as some vehicles wanted toleave given their children were out of school given this arrangement. Others in front of them were stillwaiting so there was nowhere they could go and they simply had to wait. When the weather is better,the situation seemed to improve. The school is aware of the problem. There is also a small parkingarea off Adelaide at the back of the school where a few vehicles park. Chelsea Green nursery was justacross and down the street a bit on Thompson Road, and ABC Adelaide nursery was across the streeton Adelaide, both participants in this project.

St. Martin - The school is on a busy street with a Catholic place of worship right beside it which sitsnear a street corner. The school yard includes a long fence along the street where the buses line up.Drivers can only park in front of the buses or behind and thus they park in a designated ‘no parking’area. There are not a lot of vehicles at this school given the buses and several children that walk. Withsnow, the street became narrower and vehicles passing the line up of vehicles and buses weavethrough to get to the stop sign so traffic is a bit of a safety issue if any children were to cross the streetin front of a bus. This did not happen during my observations. Parents did walk to the school to pick uptheir children at this school more so than others. Students appeared to leave in batches rather than allat exactly the same time. The school is in Old South, a popular neighbourhood with a grid system ofstreets. The principal for this school was particularly busy and difficult to reach but interested in theproject.

Sir Isaac Brock – This school is located on a busy residential street surrounded by an establishedneighbourhood in the south west part of the city. The front of the school has a stretch marked for busesand the parents adhere to it. There is ‘no parking’ on the street across from the school which is largelyignored when school is let out. The majority of the vehicles do line up, however, on the same side of thestreet as the school. Only a few vehicles go into the school parking lot which is not very large. Many ofthe students walk home from this school. It appears there are more vehicles on site when the weatheris colder. Diane presented at an assembly at this school.

It was noted in discussions with schools that vehicle traffic appears to be heavier in the mornings asparents don’t seem to have time to drop their children off in the morning to school. A number of thesesame children walk home though in the afternoons. Thus, following up the ASRTS program with someof these schools will provide additional information and support to reduce traffic congestion and numberof vehicles.

Tweedsmuir PS - This school is located in an older neighbourhood beside an upside down T-crosssection of two streets plus a third quieter street that lines up with their parking lot. Drivers using thequieter street will then turn onto one of the streets away or toward the cross section. The quieter streetis not used much for vehicles to pick up children from the school. The main area used by parents is theschool parking lot and along the street by the parking lot entrance. Several children walk to this school.The principal was very interested in the project. Diane also visited the parents’ council and presented atan assembly.

White Oaks PS – This school is a large school attached to a community centre and across from anopen field. The residential areas are outside this border but nearby. This area has a youngerneighbourhood with young families. The site has two distinct parking areas. The one area also includeda round about close to the building housing the swimming pool. This area was shut off once winterarrived and parents were advised. Therefore, the numbers of vehicles on this side were reduced duringthe final survey period. However, some vehicles got part way into the round about and had to back upcreating a bit of traffic chaos a couple of times.

On the other side of the school, the vehicles line up all around the parking lot and it seems to work outwith minimal congestion. Students are let out at different times. There is also a day care centre and anafter school sports program. Some buses arrive from other schools for sports. The signs appear to beworking. There does not seem to be a significant difference in the number of vehicles in differentweather conditions. The principal was very interested in the project.

It was also noted in discussions with the schools overall that vehicle traffic appears to be heavier in themornings as parents don’t seem to have time to drop their children off in the morning. A number ofthese same children walk home in the afternoons. Thus, following up the ASRTS program with theseven participating schools will provide additional information and support to reduce traffic congestionand number of vehicles.

DaycaresGenerally, the daycares were not impacted by vehicle idling as the parents parked and took theirchildren directly into the buildings. At some sights, a delivery truck would tend to distort the idling dataas they would sit for a large period of time while making their delivery. Frequently these were leftunmanned.

ABC Springbank nursery parking was located behind a strip plaza so it was not visible from the busystreet out front situated in the south central part of the city. Parking lots ranged in size from Springbankbeing very small to Chelsea Green being a good size with a laneway for parents to line up along as well

as the parking lot while dropping children off. Chelsea Green had a driveway off a busy street in thesouth east. Springbank was also close to apartments so some parents walked to the nursery.

Piccadilly was a house on a downtown north residential street and had no parking other than out front.Elmwood was a house in the south central part of the city on a busy one way street with a singleentrance into the parking lot in front of the house. Maitland was a building with a small parking lotbeside a railway crossing on a secondary street in the north central part of the city. Some vehiclesparked on the street at this site, some parents walked as this is also an older establishedneighbourhood.

Little Acorn on Dufferin was right downtown on a busy street in a commercial business high risebuilding at the back. Families either dropped off their children by parking with their flashers on in frontof the building or by taking a small entrance to the side of the building which went directly into a parkinggarage. A small laneway or wide sidewalk into the building off this is used by drivers dropping offchildren or a few spots on the entrance to the car park designated as 15 minute use spots. Thisseemed to be a busy little area particularly when people backed out the laneway coming in closecontact to any vehicles in the 15 minute use spots and ongoing traffic going into the car park.

ABC Adelaide was in south central part of the city in a strip mall off a busy street. Parking was alongthe side of the plaza and at the back. London Day nursery on King was downtown in a house in amixed area with a small parking lot. Huron Heights in northeast London was on a large property with agood sized parking lot. Rowntree nursery was in south central London in a converted church off a verybusy street and surrounded by a street on the side and one at the back. The parking lot and the streetacross from the nursery appeared to be most used by the nursery clientele.

HospitalsThe Parkwood and South Street control groups were less busy than the intervention sites. Parkwooddid have some LTC idling buses as drivers would stop in to the hospital for a coffee and a short breakbut otherwise vehicles generally parked in the parking lot. South was a metered area so not a problem.South is used less now that the Victoria campus exists.

University Hospital front has a large loop and even though the signs were up depending on where thedrivers are located on the loop, it appeared they don’t all see the signs given the number of vehicleslined up and possibly the weather. This is a particularly busy difficult area that may need someadditional infrastructure changes so that taxis have a designated area, so that there are more parkingmeters and so that security staff who speak to the drivers outside to move them along also remind themnot to idle when picking up and dropping off people right in front of the main doors.

At the back of the hospital, the loading dock was not a problem except for the occasional couriervehicle idling. The Emergency entrance on the north side was mainly used by ambulances and specialtransit vehicles and not a problem area.

At Victoria campus, several cars line up in a no parking zone adjacent parking meters and a few idle.Closest to the building and the parking side is where the ambulances and police park. On the other sideof the hospital, the Tower has a looped entrance. There are no meters but generally vehicles are turnedoff even though there are ‘no parking’ signs along the loop. Meaghan surveyed the loading dock andthe main entrance and St. Joseph’s hospital which had been surveyed earlier by Kim and Selena.Diane does not have observations from those sites.

BusinessesGDLS is on a busy road in northeast London in a commercial district. The area surveyed had to bereached with an escort from the front door inside to the side of the building where deliveries are made.

Depending on location, some vehicles may not see the signs but staff should point them out to thedrivers.

Fanshawe College is near GDLS on the same road and the site surveyed was at the east end of theirbuildings in a looped area beside the Registrar’s office and nearby the Communications building.

MallsRiocan Wonderland - Stores the UPS Store, A&J Mini Mart, Food Basics grocery store. However,overall drivers parked at this site and walked to the stores. Three entrances to the plaza were locatedoff the north, east and south sides of the parking lot.

Ascona Plaza - Stores in the plaza that might be expected to have idling issues were included FoodBasics grocery store, Rogers Video, Bradley Wings & Pizza, Phoenix Chinese Restaurant and K&RGrocery and Variety. Again, this site did not have an idling problem either. Three entrances to the plazawere located off the north, east and south sides of the parking lot.

Riocan Adelaide - Stores in the plaza that might be expected to have idling issues were TD-CT, RogersVideo, A&P, Subway, Northern Health and Nutrition. Most idling occurred in front of TD-CT and RogersVideo. Two entrances to the plaza were located off the west and south sides of the parking lot.

Riocan Wellington: The main store in the plaza that might be expected to have idling issues were A&Pand a onsite Royal Bank drivethrough. This particular drive-through, however, was not a site arrangedfor surveys with the Bank.

Werbar Mall - This was a smaller plaza with a drycleaners, an ethnic grocery shop and various officesand retail shops. Idling was not a problem at this site. Two entrances to the plaza were both located offthe east side of the parking lot. Because of their construction, posters were put up and come spring thesigns will be installed.

TD-CT was a busy plaza on the corner of two busy streets in south central London. The plaza has aTD-CT financial institution and a variety store. The plaza is constantly in use along with vehicles drivingthrough it from a plaza just north of the TD-CT plaza to get to the streetlights and the busy streets outfront. The majority of vehicle users were people using these two facilities with an occasional postal orcourier truck on site. The parking lot in front of the two businesses is wide enough to accommodate arow of vehicles directly by the plaza and another row closer to the street.

Given vehicles are also coming in from both sides and people are continually backing out of parkingspots, commuters must continually be mindful of moving vehicles. There is also a parking lot behindwhich seems to cater to the plaza next door so vehicles from it are coming out as well at the southentrance in order to move toward the streetlights of the two streets.

Ascona Mall and RioCan Wellington are busy sites but idling does not appear to be a problem in coldweather.

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