Dump Diesel Continued: City Gives Stinking
Tour Buses the Boot?
Last week, the Daily News reported that the NYC Department of
Consumer Affairs moved to revoke the sightseeing license of Apple Tours,
the city's largest tour operator, after bringing the license under review
in December (MTR #249).
The company pleaded guilty in Federal Court to misrepresenting the age
of its fleet of open-top, double-decker British buses last September and
is currently paying off the resulting $800,000 fine. Apple Tour buses exceed
Federal Clean Air and NY state standards for diesel emissions from which
they were previously exempted because the company presented them as "historic
vehicles." The NYC Environmental Justice Alliance and the Lower-East side
activist group, We Can't Breathe, brought attention to the issue by demanding
that the toxic-particulate-spewing vehicles be banned from the streets.
(On Monday, the Daily News carried a contradictory report that hearings
on whether to revoke Apple Tours' license will continue this Friday, May
5th.)
