there are plenty of exceptions allowed in the current bylaw that would be continued under the new proposal. you won’t be ticketed if you’re idling while stuck in traffic — or in a drive-through lane. emergency vehicles are excluded, as are public transit and private transit vehicles (school buses and tour buses, for example), vehicles engaged in farming, police vehicles since they need to keep their onboard computers powered, mobile workshops, vehicles being repaired and armoured vehicles. anyone with a doctor’s note saying they must be in a climate-controlled vehicle will also be exempt.
exemptions wouldn’t apply, however, if the idling is strictly “for the convenience of the operator,” the city says.
the current bylaw is rarely enforced. since it came into effect, the city has fielded about 270 complaints annually. of those, bylaw officers have given an average of 10 warnings and issued seven tickets a year. in about 20 per cent of the complaints, by the time a bylaw officer arrived, there was nothing to see.
the city considered allowing people to submit video evidence, but says its online reporting service cannot handle large digital files.
“when the by-law was introduced, its intention was primarily as a public awareness tool around the harms associated with excessive, unnecessary idling, and enforcement outcomes have focused on education and warnings as opposed to the issuance of infractions,” the report says.