United States Air and Radiation EPA420-F-97-027 Environmental Protection December 1997 Agency Office of Mobile Sources SEPA Environmental Fact Sheet DOT/EPA Transportation and Air Quality Public Information Initiative The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are working together to support and facilitate the efforts of state and local governments to meet their congestion and air quality goals under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) and the Clean Air Act (CAA). Objectives The Transportation and Air Quality Public Information Initiative is designed increase public awareness of the connection between travel behavior and air quality, alternative modes of transportation, and the importance of travel choices on traffic congestion and air quality. Significance The American public wants both mobility and clean air. While progress has been made in achieving both of these goals, significant challenges remain to reduce congestion levels and improve air quality. Growth in vehicle travel contributes to traffic congestion and air pollution and, unless technology improvements keep pace, could begin to offset emis- sions reductions made through cleaner cars and fuels. Consequently, a successful community-based program will help address increases in miles driven by encouraging people to consider a range of travel choices including ride-sharing, trip chaining, using public transit, and telecommuting. > Printed on Recycled Paper ------- Partners • U.S. DOT - Federal Highway Adminis- tration • U.S. DOT - Federal Transit Administra- tion • U.S. EPA - Office of Mobile Sources The federal partners are working collaboratively with local communities on the transportation and air quality public information initiative. Initiative Design Meeting the objectives of the initiative requires a carefully coordinated and consistent effort. Thus, the federal partners are beginning a long term initiative on both the national and local levels. There are four primary components to the initiative: pilot tests, coalition building, outreach and communication, and evaluation. Four communities were chosen to create pilots at the local level: • Dover, Delaware • Milwaukee, Wisconsin • Albany, New York • San Francisco, California Each pilot site will design a customized community-based approach to assess the community's specific public involve- ment and informational needs and capabilities in order to mitigate air quality and congestion concerns. The pilot products and processes will be adaptable to other, similar communities across the country. Pilot sites will be given technical assistance, creative materials, and limited start-up funding by the federal partners. Federal and local sponsoring agencies will work closely with community planners, businesses, and transportation, public health and environmental partners to develop a coalition infrastructure at pilot sites and the national level. This infrastructure is designed to insure the sustainability of this initiative. The coalitions will bring together partners representing organizations with diverse interests to share their perspectives and seek common ground. Local coalition members will assess local air quality and transportation concerns, develop appropriate local transportation strategies, communicate these to the driv- ing public, and work with the public to encourage individual choices to improve air quality and mitigate congestion. At the national level, coalition members will work together to develop and disseminate consis- tent, timely, and accurate communication tools and design public outreach activities based on widely accepted technical infor- mation for use nationwide. The national and local communication effort will explain through information dissemination and public involvement how alternatives to driving alone can meet a person's mobility needs while reducing stress, saving time and money, and provid- ing time for personal activities during travel. The national and local efforts will ------- complement each other. The national effort will support and reinforce efforts at the local level. Community efforts will com- municate regionally specific solutions to issues of national prominence. The pilot evaluation will assess the effec- tiveness and long-term potential value of this community-based approach. The partners will measure changes in driver awareness levels and attitudes toward transportation and air quality issues. In addition, they will establish baseline measures by collecting information on long-term changes in use of carpools/ vanpools, use of public transit, trip chain- ing, and telecommuting at each pilot site. Evaluation will be a significant component of the nation-wide public information initiative as well. Federal Support The national initiative will be launched soon after the pilot test program is completed. The federal partners will then publicize the initiative beginning in late 1998. Interested communities can apply via one of the three Agency contacts listed below to receive technical assistance, the materials necessary to implement the campaign, and limited start- up funds. Local organizations will be selected to receive federal support based on: 1) local congestion and air quality conditions; 2) their enthusiasm and willing- ness to conduct a transportation and air quality public information effort; and 3) their ability to engender community support for sound transportation choices to sustain this effort in the long term. For Further Information For more information on the DOT/EPA Transportation and Air Quality Public Information Initiative, please contact: Joann Jackson-Stephens U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2565 Plymouth Road Ann Arbor, MI 48105 Phone: (734)668-4276 Fax: (734)668-4531 E-mail: jackson-stephens.joann@epamail.epa.gov Kathy Daniel Federal Highway Administration Office of Environment and Planning Phone: (202)366-6276 E-mail: kathleen.daniel@fhwa.dot.gov Abbe Marner Federal Transit Administration Office of Planning Phone: (202)366-0096 E-mail: abbe.marner@fta.dot.gov This fact sheet and additional information on transportation and air quality are avail- able electronically on the EPA Internet server on the World Wide Web at: http ://www. epa.gov/OMSWWW/ transp.htm ------- |