The Clean Air Campaign is a not-for-profit organization that motivates Georgians to take action to improve air quality and reduce traffic congestion.
 | |
| Founded | 1996 |
|---|---|
| Type | Environmental Awareness |
| Focus | Air Quality & Transportation Demand Management |
| Location |
|
Area served | The State of Georgia |
Key people | Kevin Green, Executive Director
Brian Carr, Director of Communications Mark Telling, Director of Finance Mike Williams, Director of Programs and Employer Services |
| Website | The Clean Air Campaign |
Formed in 1996 by government, business, civic, health, environmental and educational organizations, The Clean Air Campaign is one of 10 organizations in the metro Atlanta region implementing strategies that improve mobility, also known as transportation demand management (TDM). The Clean Air Campaign also administers and provides marketing support for regional incentive programs that encourage commuters to use commute alternatives such as carpooling, transit, vanpooling, teleworking, biking and walking.
The Clean Air Campaign receives 80 percent of its funding from U.S. Department of Transportation Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) funds. However, the organization can only receive the federal grant money after 20 percent in matching funds have been raised. For this 20 percent, The Clean Air Campaign relies on sponsorships from corporations, state and local sources.
On a daily basis, the Clean Air Campaign's alternative commute programs eliminate 1.2 million miles of vehicle travel, save commuters $649,200, and keep over 600 tons of carbon dioxide and other pollutants out of the air.[1]
Commuter Rewards Programs
Commuter Rewards provides financial incentives to commuters who carpool, ride transit, vanpool, telework, bicycle or walk to work. Commuter Rewards includes three programs:
Cash for Commuters
This program, started in 2002, offers commuters a cash incentive for changing their commutes from driving alone. It is only for commuters who currently drive alone to work. Participants earn $3 for each day they use a qualified commute alternative within a 90-consecutive day period. Qualified commutes include carpooling, taking transit, teleworking, walking and riding a bicycle.
This program has inspired Washington, D.C., a metropolitan area facing similar transportation demand issues, to adopt a program inspired by The Clean Air Campaign's cash-based commuter incentives in Atlanta. The D.C. program offers less money per day but can be used for the same duration of 90 days.[2]
Commuter Prizes
Commuter Prizes, introduced in 2005, gives metro Atlantans the opportunity to win prizes for their clean commuting habits. Each month, participants are entered into a random drawing for $25 gift cards. Each clean commute earns an entry into the monthly drawing.
Carpool Rewards
Registered participants who carpool 15 or more days each month receive a monthly gas card for up to 12 months. Three-person carpools receive a $40 gas card per month and carpools with four or more receive $60 per month. Carpool Rewards was introduced in 2005.
Employer Rewards Programs
The Clean Air Campaign works with employers in the region, pools of people commuting to a common destination being a high-value audience for their programs. The greater means and resources of employers versus individual commuters opens up a broader range of solutions to their commute issues.
Employer Partnership Program
The Clean Air Campaign's principle method of engaging employers is through their general Employer Partnership Program. Campaign experts design a commute alternative program tailored to the specific needs of the employer based on workforce size, operating hours, office access to public transit and an array of other factors.
Campaign staff are then able to assist the employer with employee outreach through programs such as "transit fairs," educational sessions, and assistance in taking advantage of available alternative commute incentives. Currently, the campaign has over 500 employer partners.[3]
Alternative Work Arrangement Consulting
The Clean Air Campaign is able to develop alternative work programs in place of or more typically to augment an alternative commute program. Telework, compressed work weeks and flextime are all viable options employed to reduce the number of instances in which employees must commute to work during peak traffic hours or inclement weather conditions. This element of the Clean Air Campaign's program is unique in that it aims to assist with business continutiny planning as much as transport demand management and pollutant mitigation.[4] This program has also proved critical to employers whose workforces are effected by Atlanta's frequent road and highway closures.[5]
As one of the leading American cities when it comes to wireless and broadband internet access[6], the Atlanta metro area stands to benefit economically from the expanded adoption of telework.[7] The Clean Air Campaign has lobbies to keep Georgia's telework tax credit in place, as well as assists businesses in taking advnatage of these available funds.[8]
Employer Program Education Series
The Clean Air Camapaign facilitates an ongoing series of seminars aimed at assisting private, government, and non-profit organizations better understand and implement the alternative commute options that the campaign advocates. Often times these are presented in webinar format to allow the campaign and it's partners to better adhere to their commitments while still participating in group learning sessions.
PACE Awards
Each year the Clean Air Campaign holds the PACE awards to honor employer partners and individuals involved in employer programs for their commitment to furthering the Clean Air Campaign's goals. Employer awards are separated into five categories; there are three size categories for private sector companies (small, medium and large), as well as a public sector category and a property management category.[9]
Past PACE Award winners have included major Georgia-based companies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Aflac, Porsche Cars North America, Turner Broadcasting System, Cox Enterprises, and Georgia Power.[10]
The One Ton Challenge
The One Ton Challenge is a statewide effort to encourage commuters to use a commute alternative. By tying a measurable and easily understandable amount of impact on the environment (one ton of atmospheric pollutants conserved) to a clear and consistent call to action (one alternative commute to work per week) this challenge attempts to provide a more tangible, less abstract illustration of the environmental benefits provided by alternative commute options.
The challenge derives from the fact that an individual commuter in metro Atlanta is capable of eliminating a full ton of atmospheric pollutants simply by using an alternative commuting method once per week. The average round-trip commute distance in Atlanta is 40 miles.[11] It is estimated that one pound of atmospheric pollution is emitted per mile driven in a conventional vehicle[12][13]. By eliminating one commute per week, or roughly 52 commutes per year, the average Atlantan would keep 2,080 lbs., or slightly over one ton, of pollution out of the air.
Over 3,600 commuters participated in the challenge in 2008, the program's first year.[14]
Clean Air Schools Program
In 2004, The Clean Air Campaign introduced Clean Air Schools, an education outreach program that engages the entire school community in improving air quality. Initially offered to a select group of elementary schools in the 20-county metro Atlanta region, the program was expanded in 2008 to include middle and high schools statewide and the name changed to Clean Air Schools.[15]
Partner schools are asked to complete one or more programs from a list of approved items, including the No-Idling program, air quality lesson plans,and "Ride The Bus! for Clean Air". In exchange, schools receive free materials, giveaways and creative strategies to address their specific issues. The comprehensive approach combines education with action-oriented projects that seek to reduce car rider traffic and provide everyone in the community with opportunities to improve local air quality. Currently, over 220 private and public educational institutions participate in the Clean Air Schools program.[16]
While the program targets the elementary through high-school levels, some colleges and universities have enrolled in employer incentive and operations management programs, giving the Clean Air Campaign educational partners in higher learning. Emory University was the 2009 PACE Award winner in the large employer category[17], and Agnes Scott College in Decatur has become a Clean Air Campaign partner in as part of its larger efforts to become a carbon-neutral institution by it's 150th anniversary in 2039.[18]
References
- ^ Agencies band together to clean up Atlanta’s air, The Atlanta Business Chronicle, April 10, 2009, retrieved March 4, 2010
- ^ Program to offer cash incentives for carpooling to work, The Washington Post, October 26, 2009, retrieved November 13, 2009
- ^ Clean Air Campaign partnerships rise with high gas prices, The Atlanta Business Chronicle, August 5, 208, retrieved March 4, 2010
- ^ Don't sweat the snow, work from home, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, January 7, 2010, retrieved March 4, 2010
- ^ Commuters finding alternative ways to work, The Atlanta Business Chronicle, November 28, 2008, retrieved March 4, 2010
- ^ Atlanta is No. 2 on Forbes' list of ‘Most Wired Cities', The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 10, 2008, retrieved March 4, 2010
- ^ Bottom-line benefits of telecommuting, The Atlanta Business Chronicle, March 3, 2010, retrieved March 4, 2010
- ^ Gas shortage could boost teleworking tax credit, The Atlanta Business Chronicle, July 29, 2008, retrieved March 4, 2010
- ^ Clean Air lauds PACE Award winners, The Atlanta Business Chronicle, November 10, 2009, retrieved March 4, 2010
- ^ 2008 PACE Award Winners, The Clean Air Campaign, 2008, retrieved March 4, 2010
- ^ Metro Atlanta’s 2007 State of the Commute. (n.d.) Center for Transportation and the Environment.
- ^ Technical Guidelines Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases (1605(b)) Program (PDF), March 2006, retrieved February 1, 2008
- ^ Light-Duty Automotive Technology and Fuel Economy Trends: 1975 Through 2007, September 2007, retrieved February 1, 2008
- ^ Is Atlanta smog better or worse? Tips for coping., Examiner.com, May 15, 2009
{{citation}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Education Program Fact Sheet, The Clean Air Campaign, retrieved February 19, 2010
- ^ North Fuilton schools designated Clean Air Schools, NorthFulton.com, January 13, 2010, retrieved February 19, 2010
- ^ 2009 PACE Awards, The Clean Air Campaign, 2009, retrieved February 22, 2010
- ^ New grant boosts Agnes Scott green initiatives, Agnes Scott College, January 11,2010, retrieved February 22, 2010
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