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Soft Transport Policies and Ground‐Level Ozone: An Evaluation of the “Clear the Air Challenge” in S alt L ake City
Author(s) -
Teague William Seth,
Zick Cathleen D.,
Smith Ken R.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
policy studies journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.773
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1541-0072
pISSN - 0190-292X
DOI - 10.1111/psj.12105
Subject(s) - air quality index , ozone , environmental science , ground level ozone , public transport , baseline (sea) , control (management) , quality (philosophy) , business , transport engineering , geography , meteorology , engineering , political science , computer science , philosophy , epistemology , artificial intelligence , law
In recent years, communities have begun to implement both “soft” and mandatory policies designed to address worsening air quality. Voluntary or soft transportation policies have included air quality alert systems that encourage people not to drive on days when the air quality index is above a specified threshold and public education/action campaigns that focus on reducing automobile related travel. In this article, we evaluate the effectiveness of one such soft policy, the Clear the Air Challenge (CAC), in reducing ground‐level ozone during the Wasatch Front's summer ozone season. Using daily ozone data and color‐coded daily air quality designations from 2006 through 2012, we estimate a range of nonequivalent control group models. In only one of the models does the CAC generate a statistically significant but small reduction in ground‐level ozone. Future research should assess the full range of costs and benefits to the public associated with such soft transport policies.