Ottawa received 91 complaints about idling vehicles this winter: Here’s how many tickets were issued

Bylaw Services received dozens of complaints about vehicles excessively idling during the first 12 weeks of the year, but only one ticket was issued to a driver for violating Ottawa’s anti-idling bylaw.

The City of Ottawa first introduced an idling control bylaw in 2007 to limit how long a driver can idle their vehicle. In the fall, Council tightened the anti-idling rules, including limiting idling when the temperature is below 0 C and above 27 C.

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As of Jan. 1, the maximum idling time for occupied vehicles is three minutes per hour when the temperature is between 0 C and 27 C, and 10 minutes when the temperature is colder than 0 C and warmer than 27 C. The maximum idling time for an unoccupied vehicle is now one minute per hour, regardless of the temperature.

Ottawa Bylaw and Regulatory Services (BLRS) tells CTV News Ottawa it received 91 complaints about idling between Jan. 1 and March 24, including 44 service requests in January.

However, only one ticket was issued for violating the idling bylaw.

“BLRS investigates on a case-by-case basis and will issue charges, Bylaw Infraction Notices, and verbal warnings/education where appropriate,” Tania McCumber, Director of Bylaw and Regulatory Services, told CTV News Ottawa.

The fine for violating Ottawa’s anti-idling bylaw is $500. Staff have said idling offences are enforced on a complaint basis.

A report for a city committee last September said over the past five years, enforcement had resulted in a yearly average of 10 verbal warnings and seven tickets for idling.

“By reducing unnecessary vehicle idling, we are lowering greenhouse gas emissions and improving Ottawa’s air quality,” the city said in a statement on Nov. 28. “If every Ottawa driver reduced daily idling in their vehicles by two minutes, carbon dioxide emissions would decrease by about 31.2 million kilograms a year – or, we estimate, the equivalent of removing 6,780 vehicles from our roads.”

There are several exemptions to the idling bylaw, including emergency vehicles, OC Transpo and Para Transpo buses, mobile workshops, vehicles transporting individuals with a letter from a medical doctor, and school buses and tour buses when passengers are being loaded or unloaded.