One Way to Battle Bus Idling

Want to report an illegally idling bus? If it’s one of the many Academy commuter buses traveling between New Jersey and Lower Manhattan, you have someone to complain to besides 311.

Chuck Kassinger, Academy’s terminal manager, told Community Board 1’s Quality of Life Committee last week that those complaints should go to the company itself. Academy, which runs 75 buses in and out of the Financial District each weekday, will take those calls at its 24-hour dispatch center in Hoboken, NJ. The number: 201-420-7000.

“If there are any issues, they can address them immediately,” Kassinger said of the dispatch center. “If you don’t get a response that’s satisfactory, then I’d appreciate a phone call.” Kassinger’s number is 732-901-1933, ext. 2680.

The law limits bus idling to three minutes. “If a bus is in neutral for more than six minutes,” Kassinger said, “it will shut off automatically.”

“Most of the drivers, we’re pleased to say, do as what they’re told,” he added. “But we understand that once in a while, it happens that they don’t.”