Lax enforcement of standards created to limit exhaust from idling diesel-powered vehicles and buses shows that there is still work to be done in Mayor Richard Daley's quest to position Chicago atop the list of the nation's greenest cities.
A recent investigation by The Chicago Tribune has found that plenty of vehicles around the city are being allowed to idle on city streets, even though a tough law was passed over four years ago to severely limit such behavior. According to the investigation, Chicago police have not written a single ticket for violation of the anti-idling law. Diesel exhaust is a well-known trigger of asthma attacks, and has been labeled as one of the single most dangerous types of air pollution by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Studies have shown that miniscule particles of soot in diesel exhaust often become lodged in the lungs and penetrate into the bloodstream, even in areas of low concentration.
As Michael Hawthorne of The Tribune reports, "To leave diesel-powered vehicles idling for more than three minutes is illegal in Chicago, yet the Tribune observed dozens of violations in the last three months. The fumes are more than an acrid nuisance; testing by the newspaper found the amount of lung- and heart-damaging soot in the air next to idling buses soared up to 30 times higher than normal street levels."
FULL STORY: Lots of smoke, noise - but not much action on diesel engine idling

Rethinking Redlining
For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Walmart Announces Nationwide EV Charging Network
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New State Study Suggests Homelessness Far Undercounted in New Mexico
An analysis of hospital visit records provided a more accurate count than the annual point-in-time count used by most agencies.

Michigan Bills Would Stiffen Penalties for Deadly Crashes
Proposed state legislation would close a ‘legal gap’ that lets drivers who kill get away with few repercussions.

Report: Bus Ridership Back to 86 Percent of Pre-Covid Levels
Transit ridership around the country was up by 85 percent in all modes in 2024.
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