Idle Reduction Parking Lot Heroes

When we are aware of how common our unconscious idling behavior is around our towns, and how easy it is to collectively save fuel and emissions on a beautiful summer day, greater than 80% of demographics and psychographics buy into going ‘IDLE FREE’ when parked and it makes sense.

Yours truly has been studying driver idling psychology since 2005. Today was a case in point with idling beliefs and behaviors on display. This, as I was getting my second dose of Covid vaccine at a large vaccination site in an industrial park in our city.

Hundreds of vehicles were parked; I counted about two dozen parked vehicles in various states of idle; most had their windows rolled up with someone waiting in the passenger side, in several cases the driver was waiting behind the wheel with windows rolled down idling, waiting for someone.

As someone who is aware of the costs in fuel, CO2 and exhaust pollution, all I could do was a ‘double take’ and drive to my next errand at a nearby large retailer where the same scene repeated itself. Dozens of vehicles idling waiting for the shopper inside; and in some cases the vehicle left idling with the shopper inside.

But, in the midst of this were the heroes who made my day: Hilliard and his wife Freda with Daisy the dog. Intuitively they were already parked and ‘going IDLE FREE’ enjoying the summer breeze through the open windows on a 26°C (79°F) afternoon. I was so inspired I had to introduce myself and congratulate them with an IDLE FREE for our kids? window cling.

“How come you folks aren’t idling like so many other people around here?” I asked. Hilliard said “Idling is bad business!” When I told them about our program for fleet operators and pointed to my nearby ‘IDLE FREE Pace Car’, they were all smiles and offered a big thumbs up.

As we’ve documented in our years of research and practice, ‘going IDLE FREE’ is not a hard sell with the vast majority of drivers. It’s simply making a conscious choice, when we know what’s at stake, how it all adds up at home and at work. For some, breathing idling exhaust ‘is bad business.’ Which is obviously an effective idle reduction behavior reward for Hilliard, Freda and Daisy.?

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