To assist in mitigating potential impacts to the environment from vehicle driving, follow these best practices:
- Keep tire pressure at the recommended level to improve fuel efficiency.
- Make certain that the vehicle's exhaust meets inspection requirements to minimize impacts to air quality.
- Ensure that your equipment/vehicles undergo regular tune-ups, and change the oil frequently. This will prevent your car's gas mileage from declining as it gets older and extends the life of the vehicle.
- Avoid making off-campus errands during rush hours. Congested conditions with their slow speeds, frequent acceleration, and stop-and-go movement increase air pollution. Also, if you find yourself doing multiple errands off-campus throughout the day, try to combine the errands. When you first start a car after it's been sitting for more than an hour, it pollutes up to five times more than when the engine is warm.
- Buy "green" vehicles.
- Avoid idling; this will conserve fuel. (Note: Many states have limits on the number of minutes idling may last.)