Andrew Lynch of Hampton Jitney critiques 561-A's terminal-point definition

Good afternoon, Chair Gennaro, members of the committee.

I'm Andrew Lynch, Executive Vice President of Hampton Jitney.

I fully support eliminating unnecessary idling, and I also fully support cleaner air for New York City.

I'm going to focus on one area of Intro 561A to help with future iterations.

Building on what the previous gentleman, the bus driver trainer, was saying, 561A defines terminal point as, quote, the plan stops, including the beginning or end of a bus route.

Read plainly, that is every scheduled bus stop in New York City.

And at a terminal point, idling is not limited to three minutes.

It is prohibited outright.

Anytime it is above 40 degrees, not one second.

Now, due to our air-operated systems, ambitions, equipment, wheelchair lifts, everything you've heard today, there is no way for our vehicles to comply with zero idling at a stop.

Three minutes is also an issue, but not my point right now.

And this is not what terminal point has previously meant.

The existing law describes a terminal point as whether or not enclosed, language that only makes sense if the drafters were talking about a structure.

The terminal point provision was written for a finite known set of places.

As written, 561A makes it thousands.

Think about what that does to enforcement.

Make every one of those stops a zero-second idling violation, attach a reward to reporting it, and you have not built the deterrent you want because there is no way for us to be compliant.

Instead, you've built another high-volume citizen complaint program that will exist.

exacerbate the criminal oath due process issues we already have.

So do not let Terminal Point become every bus stop in the city.

Keep it to what it has always meant, the terminal, the depot, the layover.

I see that 561A gives school buses 30 minutes of heating and air conditioning to maintain passenger comfort, and we support that.

I'll note that it gives a private motor coach carrying those same children on a field trip absolutely nothing, and that does not make sense.

Your own code already treats buses differently depending on which bus it is.

Your time is expired.

It can be drawn, and it can be drawn correctly.

I have written testimony submitted and be happy to have a further conversation with the committee.

Mr.

Lynch, thank you very much for your testimony.

That was something I was not aware of, and so you brought some good value added to this proceeding, and I appreciate you for that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next witness, Michelle Pedalicki.

You may begin.