Utah's Clear the Air Challenge is Ramping-Up!

Pollution during the winter
hangs in the Salt Lake Valley.

Salt Lake is such an amazing place to live, recreate and work. We all know this, that’s why we are here. But there is a huge problem with this place, and it is something that we as a city have caused and perhaps just hoped would go away.

Air quality.

Ozone and particulates are two forms of air pollution that plague our city, and state, year round. Unlike other forms of pollution that can be insidious and difficult for the lay person to identify, air pollution blankets the valley on ‘bad air days’ like a thick fog, sometimes being referred to as ‘pea soup’. 

But for some reason we just live with the guilt of poor air quality (or maybe don’t even feel that). As we turn the key to our car we justify why we have to use it, we maybe even have the mentality of,’ I’m one person, what difference do I make?’. I’m here to tell you that you make a huge difference! According to many studies conducted here in the Salt Lake Valley, approximately 50% of all the air pollution is caused by vehicle use. That is half of the problem within our reach to mend; we need to be part of the solution.


So how do we eliminate car trips and help the air in a place that is car-centric? Cycling can be one huge piece of the solution and should be utilized as transportation for a greater portion of the population. The bike is not only good for us; it is good for where we live! The beauty of the bike is that it is completely multi-functional, it does not know the difference between a training ride and a commute and it surely is content with either. We need to be more like the bike and find fulfillment with both the training ride and the bike commute, while remembering that the two can actually be the same thing!

Using cycling as a form of transportation brings clarity to commuting and to the air. With zero emissions and positive benefits to the user, it is one of the best forms of transportation. Not to mention, when you bike commute, you aren’t tied down to freeway traffic jams or difficult bus schedules…

I know that for many of you I am sounding like a broken record; you already commute, race and recreate on your bike. But there could always be more. I will relish the day when I don’t count upwards of 20 vehicles, in 15 seconds, driving on 13^th East with one occupant. Not to mention, our air quality would be greatly improved if we all peddled instead of sitting behind a wheel. So how do we do it? How do we make alternative transportation attractive to those that don’t yet utilize it?

Well it could start during the month of August, during this year’s Clear the Air Challenge, issued by the Salt Lake City’s Office of Sustainability. The Challenge is designed to create incentives for using alternative transportation, while harnessing the competitive spirit we possess!

So how does the Clear the Air Challenge work? Any person in Utah can go online, register and create a profile on the website: ClearTheAirChallenge.org. When you register you are asked to sign up as an individual, team or company, and are asked to create weekly transportation goals for yourself, committing to a certain number of trips per week. This is what makes the Challenge accessible to everyone. The ‘rain-or-shine’ bike commuter is not in the same category as the working mother with three kids, therefore they are not competing for the same prizes. Once you have decided on your weekly goals, you start logging your trips and miles that utilize alternative transportation.

What counts as ‘alternative transportation’? This Challenge is designed for everyone. You can count trips that use, a bike, walking, riding the bus, carpooling, teleworking (working from home or doing meetings online), trip linking (making the most of your time in the car by doing all your errands at once), and compressing your work-week (working four, ten’s which eliminates a day of work commuting).

What the Challenge does for you. The Clear the Air Challenge does a lot of work on the back end to provide users with a comprehensive look at how their travel habits are affecting the air quality and their pocketbooks! With each trip your dashboard will update with emissions prevented, and money saved.

Prizes?? Yes, one of the best parts of the Challenge is that you are rewarded for not using your car. If you stay on-track with your goals, you are entered into weekly prize drawings, which could win you anything from a museum membership to sports tickets. And at the end of the Challenge we do a grand prize drawing for individuals and teams. It is not uncommon from some of the grand prizes to be night stays at resorts, ski tickets and even new bikes! So once again, if you are new to alternative transportation, use these prize opportunities as incentives to try new methods. Or, if you are a seasoned bike commuter for example, why not enter in order to get rewarded for transportation habits you already uphold?

With 50% of our air pollution problems caused by motor vehicle use, we need to step up and do what we can to mitigate our personal car miles. The bike is one way of turning your commute into an emissions preventing, money saving, waistline shrinking, and endorphin building adventure. Choose to participate in the 2012 Clear the Air Challenge and commit to bike commute, take the bus, walk, carpool, or telework, and know that you are making a difference. Encourage your friends and family, start a team, get your work-place involved! The Challenge is about strength in numbers, the more of us involved, the greater the affects we will see in Salt Lake and all of Utah.  

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