Seocho-gu, Nationwide First to Equip Daycare Vehicles with Engine-Off Heaters... Reduces Fine Dust by 98%

Attached to children's school buses and senior citizen buses where idling is unavoidable due to long waiting times, leading efforts in 'air quality welfare' to protect sensitive groups from fine dust

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] #A, a resident of Seocho-dong who escorts their child to and from school in front of their house, recently developed a concern. They saw a daycare center shuttle bus idling with the engine running to keep the heater on right in front of their home. Not only is the air quality in front of the house deteriorating, but the children are also directly exposed to fine dust generated by the idling.

#B, an elderly person who uses the Seocho-gu senior citizen bus at a nearby stop, is also worried. Since the bus is used by elderly passengers, the waiting time is long and the vehicle heater must be kept on, so they often see buses with engines running while waiting.

Seocho-gu (Mayor Eunhee Jo) is addressing these concerns by launching the nation’s first support project for auxiliary heaters without engine idling, targeting the ‘fine dust sensitive groups’ such as children, pregnant women, and the elderly, who have weaker immune systems, as part of this year’s fine dust reduction special projects for autonomous districts.

An auxiliary heater without engine idling is a device that can provide heating without starting the vehicle engine while waiting. Already popular in cargo trucks and small camping cars, these heaters prevent idling and are known to reduce greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions by 82% and fine dust emissions by 98.6% per hour compared to regular vehicles.

According to data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, auxiliary heaters reduce hourly fuel consumption (1.3ℓ, △85%), greenhouse gas emissions (3.1kg, △82%), and fine dust (19g, △98.6%) compared to idling (Korea Transportation Safety Authority, 2013).

Based on this, the district decided to first install these heaters on vehicles with long waiting times during boarding and alighting, targeting children and the elderly.

They plan to install auxiliary heaters on daycare center shuttle buses, senior citizen buses, vehicles of Hanuri Welfare Center and daycare centers, where boarding and alighting times are long due to the physical characteristics of users, making idling unavoidable. This will strengthen health protection for infants, children, and elderly who are sensitive to air pollution.

The district will initially install auxiliary heaters on a total of 26 buses and plans to expand the installation to all administrative vehicles in the future to further accelerate fine dust reduction efforts.

The auxiliary heater support project is a policy to reinforce the fine dust seasonal management system this winter, with installation scheduled to be completed by October through supplementary budget allocation in June and support from Seoul City.

It is expected to have meaningful effects especially during the high concentration fine dust period from December to March of the following year, when strengthened emission reduction and management measures are necessary.

Additionally, this project is expected to help prevent violations of the ordinance that imposes fines for idling over 2 minutes in restricted areas (the entire Seoul area in Seoul’s case) under the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Ordinance on Restricting Vehicle Idling.

Article 4, Paragraph 2 of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Ordinance on Restricting Vehicle Idling states that the restriction time is limited to within 5 minutes only when the ambient temperature is 25℃ or higher or below 5℃. However, the restriction does not apply when the ambient temperature is 0℃ or below or 30℃ or above.

Meanwhile, the district’s efforts for environmental welfare have continued. Seocho-gu has been the first in the nation to practice ‘environmental welfare’ for marginalized groups that must not be overlooked in the climate crisis era.

To this end, the district has been promoting the ‘Green Seocho Project’ since last year. It has been specially managing air quality at 239 multi-use facilities such as senior centers and libraries, and this year expanded the management target facilities to all elderly care facilities and daycare centers used by environmentally vulnerable groups with weakened immunity and respiratory systems.

They continuously measure six air quality factors including fine dust, carbon dioxide, and volatile organic compounds every minute at elderly medical welfare facilities such as nursing homes and daycare centers, as well as all daycare centers.

Based on more than three months of continuous indoor air quality monitoring big data, the project’s core is to award the ‘Seocho Green Safe Zone’ certification mark to facilities that manage indoor air quality excellently and to operate them meticulously on an ongoing basis.

The ‘Seocho Green Safe Zone’ can be checked through the Seocho Smart City app and website, providing a one-stop service that allows users to check both outdoor and indoor air quality at once. By providing this information, users can respond proactively, and the district plans to maintain communication and cooperation with residents through targeted customized promotions and social media.

Also, last year, the district received great responses by attaching adsorption filters to the front of all 148 village buses in the area as a fine dust reduction special project, preventing spread to other regions.

Seocho-gu Mayor Eunhee Jo said, “Guaranteeing the right to breathe safely has become an indispensable factor in improving residents’ quality of life,” and added, “We will continue to discover projects that can protect residents’ health from various climate crises including fine dust.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.