Shearer honored with Clean Air Award
SUSD Transportation director helped develop policy to reduce school bus idling

The American Lung Association of Arizona has presented its prestigious Clean Air Award to Daniel Shearer, director of transportation for the Scottsdale Unified School District, for helping to develop a policy to reduce school bus idling and emissions improving air quality by reducing bus idling outside schools.

Shearer worked with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality to develop a policy designed to reduce bus emissions. The policy encourages bus drivers to turn off their engines when they arrive at schools and not restart the engines until the buses are ready to leave the campus. It also recommends that buses be parked in areas away from school air intake locations.

Shearer presented the policy at a recent meeting of the Arizona Children’s Environmental Health Project. It was designed to reduce student and driver exposure to vehicle exhaust by limiting unnecessary idling of school buses and other vehicles to improve the health of students and others on school campuses.

“Everyone who works in education, including those who transport our young learners, is dedicating to doing the best things for children,” Shearer said. “Reducing bus emissions by idling buses only when absolutely necessary is something we can do right now to make the atmosphere around our schools healthier for children.”

The policy developed by Shearer and ADEQ also recommends that school districts encourage vendors to limit the idling of their vehicles and to identify indoor waiting areas for drivers who must wait for a long period of time in hot or cold weather.

Scottsdale schools already employ a policy that instructs bus drivers to shut off engines if they are stopped for a significant amount of time, Shearer said.

The district also has taken other steps to reduce emissions, he said. Fuel additives used by the district increase fuel efficiency by up to 6.5 percent and reduce emissions by an average of 12 percent. In addition, under a bond issue approved by voters in November, the district will soon begin replacing aging buses in its fleet with newer buses that produce fewer emissions and operate more efficiently.

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