The Clean Air Campaign

The Clean Air Campaign was a United States nonprofit organization focused on improving air quality and reducing traffic congestion in Georgia, especially in the metropolitan Atlanta region. It brought together government agencies, businesses, civic organizations, health groups, environmental advocates, and educational institutions to encourage changes in how people traveled to work and school. The organization was formed in 1996 in the context of Atlanta's preparation for the Summer Olympics. An earlier collaboration among Atlanta business, civic, environmental, and political leaders demonstrated that coordinated transportation and public-awareness measures could help reduce traffic and air pollution. The Clean Air Campaign developed from that initiative and operated for approximately two decades, ending its activities in December 2016. Its work combined public education with practical transportation-demand-management services. Through mass advertising, public relations, community outreach, and educational materials, the campaign promoted alternatives to driving alone during peak periods. These alternatives included carpooling, transit, bicycling, walking, telework, compressed work weeks, and flextime. The organization also worked directly with employers, recognizing that large concentrations of employees traveling to common workplaces represented an important opportunity for reducing peak-period vehicle trips. The central employer service was an Employer Partnership Program. Campaign staff assessed an employer's workforce size, operating schedule, access to public transportation, and other local conditions before designing a tailored commute-alternatives program. Staff could then support implementation through transportation fairs, employee education, outreach, and help accessing available commuting incentives. The campaign also provided consulting on alternative work arrangements. Telework and flexible scheduling were presented not only as ways to reduce commuting and emissions, but also as tools for business continuity during severe weather, road closures, and other disruptions. The campaign developed the One Ton Challenge as a statewide public-engagement effort. It translated the potential environmental benefit of changing one commute per week into a simple target: an individual commuter could, under the campaign's assumptions about Atlanta travel distances and vehicle emissions, avoid more than one ton of atmospheric pollution over a year by using an alternative commute once each week. More than 3,600 commuters participated in the challenge during its first year in 2008. Education among younger residents was another major area of activity. The Clean Air Schools program began in 2004 with selected elementary schools in the 20-county metropolitan Atlanta area. In 2008, it expanded to middle and high schools across Georgia and adopted the broader Clean Air Schools name. Later activities emphasized teen-oriented initiatives such as Get There Green, a transportation-planning challenge for high-school students, and OnAir, a website and social-media program that rewarded students with AirCreds for choosing cleaner transportation and completing other air-friendly activities. Until 2014, approximately 80 percent of the organization's funding came from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program. After that point, it pursued private support through corporate and foundation grants to continue demand-management programs and services for employers, commuters, and schools. The Clean Air Campaign was discontinued in December 2016. Some school-focused work associated with OnAir subsequently continued through OnAir Schools, an initiative of the Green Schools Alliance.

The Clean Air Campaign emerged from Atlanta's response to traffic and air-quality concerns surrounding the 1996 Olympic Games. Business, civic, environmental, political, health, educational, and public-sector participants had supported coordinated measures intended to reduce congestion and pollution during the event. The resulting collaboration provided the model for a continuing organization dedicated to transportation behavior and air-quality improvement. Established in 1996, the campaign operated primarily in Georgia, with particular emphasis on metropolitan Atlanta. Rather than functioning as a conventional environmental advocacy group alone, it linked public education to transportation-demand-management services. Its communications work used advertising, public relations, and community outreach to explain the connection between individual travel choices, traffic congestion, and air pollution. The organization promoted alternatives to single-occupant driving, including transit, carpooling, walking, bicycling, telework, compressed work schedules, and flextime. Employers were a central audience. The campaign considered workplaces important intervention points because many employees traveled to the same destinations at similar times. Through its Employer Partnership Program, staff created customized commute-alternative plans based on factors such as workforce size, operating hours, transit availability, and site access. The organization supported these plans with transportation fairs, educational sessions, employee outreach, and assistance with available commuting incentives. The campaign also treated flexible work as both an emissions-reduction measure and a business-continuity tool. Its consulting addressed telework, compressed work weeks, and flextime, particularly where employers needed to manage disruptions caused by road closures, severe weather, or other transportation problems. The organization supported the continuation of Georgia's telework tax credit and helped businesses make use of relevant incentives. In 2004, it introduced Clean Air Schools, initially for selected elementary schools in the 20-county metropolitan Atlanta region. The program expanded in 2008 to middle and high schools throughout Georgia. Its later youth-oriented work included Get There Green, which challenged high-school students to plan cleaner transportation, and OnAir, a web and social-media initiative that used AirCreds to recognize students for cleaner travel and other air-friendly actions. The One Ton Challenge, introduced in 2008, gave the public a straightforward way to understand the cumulative environmental value of changing one commute each week. The campaign calculated that, using its assumptions about average Atlanta commuting distance and vehicle pollution, this behavior could prevent more than one ton of atmospheric pollutants from being emitted annually by an individual commuter. More than 3,600 people participated in the first year. Funding initially depended heavily on public transportation and air-quality resources. Until 2014, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program provided about 80 percent of the campaign's funding. The organization later obtained corporate and foundation grants to support demand-management services for employers, commuters, and schools. After roughly 20 years of activity, The Clean Air Campaign discontinued operations in December 2016. Related school work, particularly the OnAir concept, later continued through OnAir Schools under the Green Schools Alliance.

• 2016

  Operations discontinued

  [1]The Clean Air Campaignen.wikipedia.org

  The organization ended its campaign activities in December 2016 after approximately 20 years of operation.

• 2014

  Funding model shifted

  [1]The Clean Air Campaignen.wikipedia.org

  After relying heavily on federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement funds, the campaign moved toward corporate and foundation grants.

• 2008

  School program expanded statewide

  [1]The Clean Air Campaignen.wikipedia.org

  The school initiative expanded to middle and high schools across Georgia and became known as Clean Air Schools.

• 2008

  One Ton Challenge launched

  [1]The Clean Air Campaignen.wikipedia.org

  The statewide One Ton Challenge began, attracting more than 3,600 commuter participants during its first year.

• 2004

  Clean Air Schools introduced

  [1]The Clean Air Campaignen.wikipedia.org

  The campaign launched a school outreach program initially aimed at selected elementary schools in the 20-county metropolitan Atlanta area.

• 1996

  Organization established

  [1]The Clean Air Campaignen.wikipedia.org

  The Clean Air Campaign was formed after Atlanta-area leaders used collaboration around the 1996 Olympics to address traffic congestion and air pollution.

A public-interest environmental and transportation initiative that combined clean-air advocacy with practical programs for employers, commuters, students, and schools.

• Employer transportation-demand management

  Employer Partnership Program

  A customized service for employers seeking to reduce single-occupant commuting and peak-period traffic. Campaign staff considered workforce size, operating hours, transit access, and workplace conditions, then helped implement commute-alternative programs through transportation fairs, education, outreach, and incentive support.

• Telework and workplace planning

  Alternative Work Arrangement Consulting

  Consulting on telework, compressed work weeks, and flextime. The service was intended to reduce peak-hour travel and emissions while also helping employers maintain operations during highway closures, severe weather, and other transportation disruptions.

• Commuter engagement campaign · 2008

  One Ton Challenge

  A statewide challenge encouraging people to replace one commute to work each week with an alternative mode. It framed the potential annual pollution reduction as more than one ton under the campaign's assumptions, making an abstract air-quality benefit easier for commuters to understand.

• School environmental education · 2004

  Clean Air Schools

  An education and outreach program involving school communities in cleaner transportation and air-quality improvement. It began with selected elementary schools around Atlanta in 2004 and expanded to middle and high schools statewide in 2008.

• Student transportation challenge

  Get There Green

  A high-school program that encouraged teenagers to consider and plan cleaner ways of getting to school and other destinations.

• Youth digital engagement

  OnAir

  A clean-air website and social-media initiative for teenagers. Participants could earn AirCreds for using cleaner transportation modes and completing other activities intended to support air-quality awareness.

• 2008The One Ton Challenge

  Georgia

  A commuter challenge encouraged participants to use an alternative commute once per week and explained the potential annual pollution reduction in terms of approximately one ton of atmospheric pollutants.

  Outcome. More than 3,600 commuters took part during the program's first year.

  Source
• 2004Clean Air Schools

  Metro Atlanta · Georgia

  The program engaged schools and their wider communities in air-quality education and cleaner transportation practices.

  Outcome. It expanded in 2008 from selected elementary schools in the Atlanta region to middle and high schools statewide.

  Source
• 1996Public Education and Community Outreach

  Georgia · Metro Atlanta

  The campaign used advertising, public relations, and community outreach to connect transportation choices with congestion and air quality, while bringing public and private-sector organizations into a common statewide strategy.

  Outcome. The work continued throughout the organization's operating period, although no single quantitative outcome is specified in the reference material.

  Source
• OnAir

  Georgia

  A teen-focused digital initiative rewarded clean transportation and other air-friendly behavior through online and social-media participation.

  Outcome. Related work continued after the campaign ended through OnAir Schools, an initiative of the Green Schools Alliance.

  Source

• 2016

  Discontinuation of the campaignOther

  Background

  After approximately two decades of clean-air, mobility, employer, commuter, and school programming, the organization reached the end of its operating period.

  Action taken

  The Clean Air Campaign discontinued its activities in December 2016.

  Aftermath

  Some of its school-oriented work, including the OnAir concept, continued through OnAir Schools under the Green Schools Alliance.

  Source

• 2014

  Shift toward private grant fundingStrategy

  Background

  Until 2014, approximately 80 percent of the organization's funding came from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program.

  Action taken

  The campaign pursued corporate and foundation grants to finance demand-management programs and services for employers, commuters, and schools.

  Aftermath

  The organization continued its program work until it discontinued operations in December 2016.

  Source

• 2008

  Launch of the One Ton ChallengeProduct launch

  Background

  The campaign sought to make the environmental value of alternative commuting more tangible to individual commuters.

  Action taken

  It introduced a statewide challenge linking one alternative commute per week with an estimated annual avoidance of more than one ton of atmospheric pollution.

  Aftermath

  More than 3,600 commuters participated during the first year.

  Source

1. 1The Clean Air Campaignen.wikipedia.org
2. 2The Clean Air Campaign official websitecleanaircampaign.org