Camden Council has launched a crackdown on bus and coach drivers who leave their engines idling for more than four minutes.
The north London local authority says operators will be fined £80 if their drivers leave engines running unnecessarily at bus stands and coach parking bays across the borough. The council claims engine idling increases levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and fine particles (PM10), two major air pollutants in London.
Sean Birch, Camden’s cabinet member for sustainability and transport, said air quality in some locations was “in breach of EC standards and national objectives, which are there to protect the health of our residents, visitors and working population.”
He added: “Along with our neighbouring inner London boroughs, we are acutely affected by the dangers of air pollution and the lives of many who use or live alongside the capital’s busiest roads are being shortened. It is hoped that enforcement will lead to behavioural changes in drivers.”
The fines were introduced on November 29.
