The 2018 Clear the Air Challenge is Here!

It’s February which means it’s time for the Ninth Annual Clear the Air Challenge! If you haven’t already, now is the perfect time to get signed up and start identifying how you can drive less and drive smarter to save pollution.

All Utahns are encouraged to participate in this important effort to reduce emissions! The goal is to eliminate 300,000 single-occupant trips to save 2 million miles. With roughly 50% of local air pollution coming from cars, each of us can make a difference and participating in the Challenge can be that extra inspiration to take action.

The Challenge works by asking you to log trips and choose your mode of travel. It aggregates these trips and associated emissions reductions for every Clear The Air Challenge participant.  And how many “trips logged and saved” is the basis for the team competition (see below).

The Clear the Air Challenge is the perfect opportunity to try out a new habit:

• Ask your boss about teleworking once a week
• Find a carpool buddy
• Explore new transit options using Google Maps (see below)
• Sign up for the Hive Pass (SLC’s half-off transit pass)
• Take advantage of the warm weather to dust off the bike.

You don’t have to have perfect participation from Feb. 1-28 to make a dent.

Even leaving the car at home one day out of the week can make a big difference.

All miles saved – not just from commuting to and from work, but errands such as grocery store runs, personal trips, and weekend outings are eligible to be tracked on the TravelWise dashboard.

To make it fun, there is a competitive element. Individuals join teams. It could be your workplace or an open community team (some examples include our e2 business team, HEAL Utah’s team, or KRCL 90.9’s team. Just search for the team you’d like to join when you sign up. Or start your own!)

A leaderboard shows top individual commuters and teams. Here’s the leaderboard on opening day (Hey University of Utah and UTA… SLC Corp is coming for you!)

There can also be sub-groups within each larger group to increase the competition for large organizations.

Here at Salt Lake City Corp, each department has a team. This year we’ve created a bracket that will change each week. Departments are going head-to-head to see who can save the most trips per capita.  

Check out SLC Corp’s first bracket for “Clear The Air Madness” below. There’s some fierce rivalry going on there 😉

Additional Resources

Not sure what bus or train to take? One of our favorite tips is to use Google Maps to find a variety of public transit routes that work for your commute. Just type in your origin point and destination to bring up the transit options.

Google Maps will show you the optimal UTA routes around Salt Lake City.

Ready to sign up for the Challenge? Watch the video walk-through below to get familiar with the dashboard.

Clear the Air Challenge Tutorial: How to Register

Want to view the Startup Kit Toolkit? Click here

Want to get your Organization’s team set up? Click here

Want to see the results of the previous challenge? Click here

No matter how you reduce your miles, we hope that you can use the Challenge as an opportunity to explore a new method of transportation that you  incorporate into your routine to help keep the air clear all year long.