How do you promote carpooling, vanpooling, and mass transit to diverse audiences in a metropolitan region that includes urban, suburban and rural environments? If you're John Galgano, project manager for CommuterLink in New York City, you focus on the cost savings.

"Showing that carpooling or taking transit even once a week saves money is a key point we make when pitching our services," said Galgano. "Better air quality and improved mobility are important messages too, helping us make alternate modes an attractive and viable option for thousands of people in and around New York."

Combining these messages has proven to be a winning strategy for CommuterLink. In seven years, the non-profit organization has grown from a small demonstration project in Queens, New York, to one of the leading transportation management organizations in the New York City area. CommuterLink manages the Ozone NY Program, which serves as one of the principal transportation-related air quality watchdog organizations in downstate New York, covering 13 counties, including the 5 boroughs of New York, 2 counties on Long Island and the Lower Hudson Valley area. CommuterLink/Ozone NY has become a regional force in promoting carpooling, vanpooling and transit as solutions for the congestion and air quality problems in the greater New York City area. The organization now has 500 partners, ranging in size from 1 to 10,000 people.

Galgano has been an active participant in the It All Adds Up to Cleaner Air initiative since joining in 2000. CommuterLink has used a wide variety of It All Adds Up materials and resources.

"The Ten Simple Steps are at the core of everything CommuterLink does," said Galgano. "The messages are reflected in our ozone alert notices and a broad range of other advertising and promotional efforts."

Galgano noted that the eight ozone alert notices CommuterLink recently sent to partnering businesses included at least 8 of the 10 simple steps. The alerts highlighted alternate modes of commuting, and other messages, such as "Don't Top Off" and "Refuel at Night." CommuterLink featured the It All Adds Up spring and summer seasonal quizzes in multiple places on their Web site and incorporated some of the initiative messaging into their middle and elementary school curricula.

CommuterLink customized the initiative's three television PSAs and ran them for nearly two months this summer on the CBS affiliate in New York City, reaching millions of people on a regular basis. Messages and materials from It All Adds Up also were used throughout the summer in radio spots that ran on two local radio stations, and in various billboards, gas pump signs and print ads. In 2000, CommuterLink worked with the local cable provider to air all three PSAs in regular rotation for a number of months.

Galgano reads the It All Adds Up to Cleaner Air e-newsletter every season and frequently uses the Exchange to find out how other communities are promoting air pollution reduction and alternate modes. He believes that you "always have to keep current" on issues and activities, citing this Community Spotlight column and the Exchange as "perfect examples" of the kinds of interaction and information that help him stay on top of what others are doing.

Galgano said that the remarkable cooperation and assistance he receives from regional transportation organizations - including the New York City Department of Transportation and the New York State Department of Transportation - also are key factors in CommuterLink's success. The entire staff of CommuterLink, especially Jennifer Covello, the program's Marketing Manager, and Ozone NY Program Partners Metropool and Long Island Transportation Management also make important contributions to the organization's activities and achievements.

"The city DOT has leveraged a tremendous amount of ad dollars for the region over the past several years, and the state DOT has provided technical assistance and advice on a number of issues," he said. "There are a lot of good people and good resources out there; it always helps to use them as a sounding board."