Our History
In developing the national initiative, it was critical to create consumer-based messages that motivate the public to take action. The messages also needed to resonate across communities that vary in available transportation options and air quality awareness levels. This led to the development of a full spectrum of components so communities could tailor the initiative to fit their unique requirements. But the major challenge was to create an overarching theme that would motivate Americans to change their transportation choices. The It All Adds Up to Cleaner Air theme encourages people to make small, convenient changes in their transportation choices...and gives them a pat on the back for doing so.
The initiative's design is based on considerable primary and secondary research, including a pilot study in three U.S. cities with varying stages of air quality awareness: Dover, Delaware; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and San Francisco, California. Following the research phase, 14 demonstration communities throughout the U.S. were selected to participate in the initiative. The communities were encouraged to form local coalitions of community organizations, businesses, and governments with an interest in transportation, traffic congestion and air pollution issues. To implement the initiative, the communities were provided with a toolkit, which included a media campaign with television, radio, print and outdoor advertising. In addition to the community effort, a national coalition of public and private entities was formed to support the campaign's core themes and ensure the initiative's long-term sustainability.
During the first five years of the initiative, more than 14 communities implemented the initiative locally and more than 60 others requested materials and information.
In the past four years, more than 90 organizations have voluntarily registered as Community Partners. These organizations represent a broad cross-section of the country and their varied activities demonstrate the flexibility and continued relevance of the It All Adds Up initiative. For more information, visit the Community Partners' success stories section of the Web site.
Primary and Secondary
Research Behind the Initiative
Research played a critical role in enriching the development of the It All Adds Up to Cleaner Air initiative. A variety of primary and secondary research was conducted, including a comprehensive review of literature on transportation and air quality public education programs, focus groups, pilot testing, and a demonstration phase.
Literature Review: An extensive review of national, regional and local transportation and air quality public education programs, and other public education programs to modify behavior, identified a need for a national program flexible enough to be tailored at the local level. Many national, regional, and local organizations already had transportation and air quality public education programs. However, our research findings indicated a need to focus on traffic congestion and quality of life issues -- meaningful issues for drivers -- in addition to health issues.
Stakeholder Groups: Moderated discussion groups with potential stakeholders revealed insights into the challenges and potential obstacles of a national transportation and air quality public education initiative. The sessions included representatives from four stakeholder groups: industry, states, metropolitan planning organizations, and associations and nongovernmental organizations. These groups said:
- State and local transportation planners and air quality regulators need help in meeting their congestion and air quality objectives under the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) and the Clean Air Act (CAA).
- Transportation and air quality organizations have limited resources to meet these goals.
- Past state and local-level public education messages about transportation and air quality issues were inconsistent and confusing.
- The messages need to be acceptable to both consumers and the stakeholders who will fund their dissemination.
Target Audience Research: To identify segments of the general public most amenable to changing their transportation choices to improve air quality, U.S. DOT and U.S. EPA first reviewed research on people's transportation habits and their attitudes and behaviors toward the environment. These studies included The Environment: Public Attitudes and Individual Behavior (a long-term study of consumer attitudes and behaviors related to the environment by the Roper Organization, Inc.), the Mediamark Research, Inc. Index (syndicated market research on purchasing behaviors, categorized by demographics and media used) and additional regional and state quantitative and qualitative research.
The data analysis suggested further study of people who might be willing to change their transportation habits in order to improve air quality.
Next, we held focus groups to gain insights into transportation and air quality issues affecting the general public, which helped to identify key issues and potential communication strategies for developing the education initiative. These groups revealed the following:
- Citizens do not understand the link between transportation choices, traffic congestion, and air quality.
- Citizens are largely unaware of the range of alternatives to solo driving.
- Air quality and transportation are typically not high-priority issues for citizens.
- Citizens feel that government and industry should share responsibility for improving air quality and congestion.
Thus, the target audience for It All Adds Up to Cleaner Air became "drivers who recognize that air pollution is a problem and think that they personally can make a difference." They are aware of environmental issues and believe that individuals can reduce air pollution caused by automobile exhaust. This segment is primarily college-educated and middle-class.
Concept and Message Testing: The next round of focus groups revealed that many people do not see environmental benefits as a convincing reason to change their behaviors and indicated that other benefits were much more relevant. The strategy, therefore, shifted to targeting the general driving public and, secondarily, those for whom environmental benefits would weigh into their transportation choices. The participants revealed the following:
- They were not blind to their area's environmental challenges, but other problems had higher priority.
- They were aware of alternatives to driving alone.
- They believed they were already taking steps to improve local air quality.
Literature Review and Market Research Summary:
- Transportation and air quality stakeholders identified a need to educate citizens about the effect of individual transportation choices on air quality and congestion.
- Organizations would greatly benefit from sharing expertise, messages, and tools designed to educate citizens.
- A national public education effort implemented at the local level would allow:
- personal interaction with drivers at the local level
- broader dissemination of messages
- positioning of transportation and air quality issues as a national priority.
- Messages about air quality and congestion should:
- have a credible rationale
- stress the voluntary aspect of individual action
- be encouraging and positive in tone and substance
- suggest simple and convenient options
- speak to both consumers and organizations.
Overall Research Summary
- Transportation and air quality stakeholders have identified a need to educate citizens about the effect of individual transportation choices on air quality and congestion.
- Organizations would greatly benefit from sharing expertise, messages and tools designed to educate citizens.
- A national public education effort implemented at the local level would allow:
- personal interaction with the target audience at the local level
- broader dissemination of messages
- positioning of transportation and air quality issues as a national priority.
- Messages about air quality and congestion should:
- have a credible rationale
- stress the voluntary aspect of individual action
- be encouraging and positive in tone and substance
- suggest simple and convenient options
- speak to both consumers and organizations.
Pilot Phase
In 1997-98, the federal partners coordinated with three communities to introduce the It All Adds Up to Cleaner Air public education initiative. One of the nation's largest metropolitan areas, San Francisco, California, a medium-sized city, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Dover, Delaware, a small community just starting to address transportation and air quality issues, were selected as pilot sites. Each site collaborated with community groups, businesses, and environmental organizations to implement and sustain the program within their communities.
The pilot phase included a comprehensive evaluation that tracked implementation of the pilot programs, including community activities, use of the media, the initiative's impact on the public, and recommendations for improvements, including how the federal partners could best support existing efforts and pass along successful community strategies. Community activities were found to have supported the initiative's objectives of increasing awareness of the relationship among transportation choices, air quality, and congestion.
Pilot phase findings provided valuable insights into continuing development of a national initiative that could meet the needs of a diverse array of communities, and laid the foundation for a sustainable effort to motivate Americans to change their transportation habits.
Key findings from the pilot phase included the following:
- Community participation was pivotal to developing and refining the national initiative.
- Many strategies selected by communities reflected overarching themes, while other approaches were tailored to specific local needs or expertise.
- As expected, the initiative's effect on drivers was limited to changes in awareness.
Key lessons learned from the pilot phase encouraged the federal partners to refine and expand the program to support 14 demonstration communities and make initiative materials available to 90 additional communities in 34 states.
Demonstration Communities
From May 1999 through October 2000, 14 selected demonstration communities used the It All Adds Up to Cleaner Air concepts, approaches, and high-quality materials -- incrementally refined after pilot testing -- and adapted them for their specific purposes. The 14 demonstration communities included organizations in the following states and the District of Columbia: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. Visit the Success Stories section of this Web site to read about some of their continuing activities.
The intent of the demonstration phase was to show how It All Adds Up materials and strategies could be modified and incorporated into outreach and partnership-building efforts across the country. Lessons learned and products developed are now being shared with other communities with similar air quality and congestion issues and demographics.
"First Five Years"
To document the initiative's progress, a "First Five Years" evaluation was conducted. The results showed the value of varied approaches and, more importantly, highlighted the need to maintain flexibility in material development and use. Demonstration communities proved the benefits of having diverse materials, as reflected in the rich creativity of their individual approaches.
Download the PDF version of the First Five Year Report.
