Clean Air Partnership of Middle Tennessee

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CLEAN AIR PARTNERSHIP LAUNCHES AIR QUALITY CAMPAIGN
Middle Tennessee Organization To Raise Awareness And Encourage Ridesharing, Transit

NASHVILLE , Tenn. ─ The Clean Air Partnership of Middle Tennessee today announced the launch of an education campaign aiming to improve air quality in the Midstate by encouraging the use of ridesharing and public transit options.

Central elements of the campaign are a new logo, revamped Web site and interstate billboards that target downtown Nashville commuters.

With the launch of the Middle Tennessee air quality campaign, the Clean Air Partnership is heightening its public awareness efforts, which have been ongoing over the last several years.

Clean Air Partnership chairwoman Laura Artates said the ultimate goal of the organization is to decrease ground-level ozone – a pollutant that forms when emissions “bake” in the heat. Achieving a significant decrease in this pollutant can happen only when there are fewer vehicles on the road, according to Artates.

“We want to help people understand the connection between their transportation habits and the quality of the air we breathe,” Artates said. “If every commuter carpooled or took the bus just one day a week – a simple change in habit – we would see immense improvements in our air quality. Plus, people would save a lot of time, money and stress.”

The campaign’s billboards play on people’s frustrations with the frequently congested interstates coming into Nashville , especially during rush hour.

“A less stressful commute to work via carpool, vanpool, bus, or train is a great incentive for people who find their daily commutes frustrating and time-consuming,” Artates said.

The Clean Air Partnership’s new Web site, www.CleanAirPartnership.info, serves as an information hub for Middle Tennesseans looking for transportation alternatives, with a listing of transit opportunities available in Davidson County and the surrounding areas. The Web site also offers an air quality forecast monitor, where people can sign up to get Air Quality Alerts through e-mail or text message, enabling them to plan for alternative transportation options on air quality alert days, which typically occur during the warmer months when ozone levels are particularly high.

Also included on the redesigned Web site are other simple tips and general resources for improving air quality. Businesses and individuals can sign up on the site to be Clean Air Partners and receive e-mail notifications of upcoming events and important messages regarding air quality.

A Spanish version of the Web site will be available in the coming months.

The Clean Air Partnership of Middle Tennessee, which began in 2003 in response to more stringent ozone standards put in place by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is directed by a steering committee composed of representatives from the Metropolitan Public Health Department, Regional Transit Authority, Metropolitan Planning Organization, Metropolitan Transit Authority, Vanderbilt Environmental Health and Safety, Tennessee Valley Authority, Tennessee Department of Transportation, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Tennessee Department of Health, American Lung Association of Tennessee, TMA Group, and Clean Cities of Middle Tennessee. In 2004, the EPA designated all or part of 18 counties in Tennessee as exceeding the new federal air quality guidelines for ozone, including six Middle Tennessee counties: Davidson, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson, Dickson, and Robertson counties.