DURING the renovation of Blackburn Boulevard, the air pollution caused by stationary buses waiting for several minutes with engines running has become more noticeable, particularly in Railway Road.

This is a common problem which exists at all termini and is certainly not confined to Blackburn. The Peel Street bus station area in Accrington can be absolutely obnoxious.

The clouds of fumes generated when vehicles move off after the extended idle periods are not ideal in any area. They are particularly undesirable in the vicinity of pedestrians, children in prams and food outlets.

At the beginning of June, a bus in Ainsworth Street - standing with the engine running -even had no driver on board, which is totally illegal.

Would the operators care to put the case for this environmentally contaminating practice? In winter perhaps heaters need to operate but that would not be the case at this time of year. And I doubt that many buses have air conditioning for which the engine needs to run.

I just don't understand it. Why waste the fuel. Is profitability so great that it does not matter?

Name and

address supplied

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.