Idling school buses spew black carbon, fine particles

Idling school buses spew tons of exhaust into the air, putting children at risk when they leave school at the end of each day. In New York City alone, idling vehicles emit as much pollution as nine million diesel trucks driving from the Bronx to Staten Island. But the city's laws requiring them to shut down their engines in school zones are poorly enforced. At 2:33 p.m. in New York City's East Harlem, four short yellow school buses pull to a stop in front of Reece School, a private elementary school for special needs children. The bus drivers pop their doors open and idle, engines running, while they await their young passengers. As the students trickle out of the school, a clipboard-wielding teacher checks their names off her list and guides them to their buses. On the older buses, the engines rumble as the children climb aboard. At 2:40 p.m., the first bus is full and off it goes, down the hill, merging with traffic on Madison Avenue. The second bus inches forward and stops. Six more round the corner onto 104th Street, all with engines running. By 2:45 p.m., all the students are heading home. Between dismissal and departure, the diesel engines idled for 12 minutes, spewing exhaust into the air in front of the school.