St. Louis Air Quality by St. Louis Regional Clean Air Partnership

ST. LOUIS, MO., July 19, 2007

Citizens for Modern Transit (CMT) and the St. Louis Regional Clean Air Partnership (The Partnership) have joined forces to spread the word to local employers about the benefits of alternative transportation modes. In May, the organizations embarked on a summer-long joint outreach project targeting area businesses with the goal of encouraging employers to help their employees take advantage of mass transit, ridesharing, flexible work schedules and other alternative transportation arrangements during the I-64 reconstruction project to help ease traffic congestion and the related release of harmful emissions that contribute to poor air quality.

With much of the current work associated with the I-64 project now occurring in and around the Clayton area, one focus of the outreach project includes a combination of direct mail postcards, which are being distributed to members of the Clayton Chamber of Commerce, and print advertising targeting Clayton residents. Members of the Downtown St. Louis Partnership have also been included in the direct mail side of the initiative, since a number of downtown employees commute from Clayton to an office in downtown St. Louis.

“As the I-64 project continues, construction-related traffic delays have the potential to create much longer work commutes for St. Louis area drivers,” said Kim Cella, Program Director for Citizens for Modern Transit. “All that extra time in traffic means employees will be spending less time in the office, and employers could really feel the pinch when it comes to productivity. We’re hoping that this outreach initiative will demonstrate how alternative transportation modes can ease traffic congestion and keep employees out of traffic at peak times, and how that can positively affect the company’s bottom line. We encourage any employer that is interested in sharing the benefits of alternative modes with their employees to contact us for more information.”

Informational events are also playing a key role in the summer outreach initiative. Earlier this month, The Partnership hosted its first-ever Clean Air Festival in downtown Clayton. The event provided hundreds of Clayton employees and residents with information on alternative commuting options available in the area, and demonstrated how utilizing those options can positively impact the region’s air quality as the I-64 project continues.

“One of the other key messages we’re stressing as part of this outreach project with CMT is the link between traffic congestion and our air quality,” said Susannah Fuchs, Director of Environmental Health for the American Lung Association of the Central States and spokesperson for The Partnership. “Additional planned lane closures related to the I-64 project have the potential to create increased traffic congestion in the area and a related increase in auto emissions from vehicles sitting idle on area roads. We want employers and employees alike to know that by utilizing alternative transportation modes they are also doing their share for cleaner air in the region by helping to reduce the number of single-vehicle trips made each day.”

The summer outreach project is scheduled to continue through the end of August. To learn more about how you can provide your employees with an alternative way to go for the work commute, call CMT at (314) 231-7272 or visit www.cmt-stl.org. For more information on ways you can do your share for cleaner air, contact the St. Louis Regional Clean Air Partnership at (314) 645-5505, ext. 1007.

Citizens for Modern Transit is a not-for-profit organization in St. Louis whose mission is to expand the light rail system in order to build more sustainable, accessible communities in the region. For more information, visit www.cmt-stl.org.

The St. Louis Regional Clean Air Partnership was formed in 1995, led by the American Lung Association, St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association, East-West Gateway Coordinating Council, Washington University and others, to increase awareness of regional air quality issues and to encourage activities to reduce air pollution emissions.

Press Release

CITIZENS FOR MODERN TRANSIT TEAMS-UP WITH CLEAN AIR PARTNERSHIP FOR SUMMER MARKETING INITIATIVE

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