'Terrible' bus, coach and taxi idling problem in High Street sparks call for action

A Windsor man is asking for the council to act decisively to tackle pollution in the town centre by putting in ‘no idling’ zones around the High Street.

James Marshall, who lives on the High Street, notices that queues of a half dozen buses in one place will sit with their engines on for up to 10 minutes at a time. 

For coaches, it can be up to 20, he said.

He has been trying to tackle the problem for over a year, largely by politely asking the drivers to simply switch their engines off, but the message doesn’t stick.

“The drivers forget the next time they come,” he said. “Some are more combative and will say, ‘Where are the signs that say, ‘No idling?’”

James does think there should be signs like this and is asking the council to consider putting them in.

“We have eight to 10 different bus routes to stop here – there’s probably 30 to 40 buses an hour,” he said. “We constantly have two or three buses that are idling outside in peak times. 

“That’s outside cafes, restaurants, small businesses, the church – there’s small kids going past.  They’re just sucking in these fumes.

“Because of the valley effect created by buildings on both sides of the street, on a calm day, the pollution just stays in the air. It’s just terrible,” he added.

James says he has spoken to ‘hundreds of drivers’ and to the bus companies directly. But although the companies have been responsive, the problem persists.

A spokesperson for Thames Valley buses said most of its Windsor buses are stop-start, which reduce idling.

Otherwise, drivers are instructed to switch off engines when waiting more than a minute.

The spokesperson said they will investigate complaints about ‘dismissive drivers’ but ‘cannot monitor individuals.’

Meanwhile, the managing director of Carousel Buses, Luke Marion, said the exhaust systems it uses ‘broadly do an excellent job’ in reducing harmful emissions.

There are ‘many reasons’ for idling – including advanced exhaust systems that need to run a self-cleaning process periodically, he said.

Studies have shown it is often better to keep an engine running if a vehicle is only going to be stationary for a short period, Mr Marion added.

“We recognise that idling engines can be a nuisance and generally ask our drivers to switch engines off, if possible, when a vehicle is expected to be stationary for more than a minute,” he said.

“We share the resident’s passion for maintaining air quality in our communities. 

“Earlier this year [we] invested in nine new low-emissions buses which was our largest ever order for new vehicles.”

James knows about the studies regarding short periods of idling – but nonetheless believes there is still too much idling going on.

He proposes making Windsor a ‘no idle High Street’ with signs at either end of it, as well as at bus stops and taxi ranks – with fines issued after one minute of idling.

RBWM was approached for comment.