Clean Air Facts
Boost your air quality knowledge and help improve the air in your community with these important clean air facts and suggestions for incorporating simple, convenient actions into your daily routine.
- The average driver spends more than 50 cents per mile including vehicle ownership and maintenance.
- According to the U.S. EPA, air quality has greatly improved in recent years, but vehicles on the road—even newer, cleaner models—still account for at least 25% of air-polluting emissions nationwide.
- The typical worker who switches from driving alone to carpooling saves more than $1,000 a year and avoids driving an average of 5,000 miles per year.
- Refueling during cooler periods of the day and in the evening can prevent gas fumes from heating up in the presence of sunlight, which creates ozone.
- Telecommuting, carpooling, using public transportation, walking, or bicycling—only one day a week for a year—can save the typical commuter more than 1,200 miles on their vehicle and hundreds of dollars in total driving costs.
- Combining multiple errands—or trip-chaining—saves time, money, and the air. Trip-chaining not only saves about 200 miles on your vehicle each year, it helps reduce emissions.
- Emissions are highest when a vehicle is started "cold." Starting a 5-mile trip with after a car has been sitting for more than an hour generates 50% more volatile organic compounds and 17% more nitrogen oxides than starting up when the engine is warm.
- 40% of trips are less than two miles long—about a 30-minute walk or 15-minute bike ride.
- The typical "peak period" traveler uses an extra 28 gallons of fuel per year due to inefficient vehicle operation in congested conditions.
- Replacing a clogged air filter can improve your car’s gas mileage by as much as 10%—saving up to 55 gallons of gasoline, or about three trips to the gas station, each year.
- The average American household uses almost 3 gallons of fuel per day—enough to fill 21 standard bathtubs a year.
- Spilling one ounce of gasoline, which evaporates, produces the same ozone-producing volatile organic compounds as a car driving 56 miles. Stop at the “click” when you refuel your vehicle to save money and the air!