July 17^th marked the first bi-annual Commuter Fair at Delta’s General Offices in Atlanta. With over 200 employees in attendance, representatives from the Hartsfield Area Transportation Management Authority (HATMA) and the Clean Air Campaign (CAC) were quite busy.

The CAC’s mission is to motivate Georgians to take action to improve air quality and reduce traffic congestion. They provided information on local air quality and the environmental benefits of commuting. HATMA provided Delta specific information on commute incentives and how to sign up for commuter rewards on their website.

Attendees were also granted the opportunity to sign up for the One Ton Challenge. CAC and the region’s transportation management association, HATMA, are teaming up to get Mother Earth on track to better health. The One Ton Challenge is a regional effort to encourage everyone to use a commute alternative. By not driving just one day per week, each metro Atlanta commuter can avoid emitting one ton of pollutants into the air over a course of one year.

Small changes can make a ‘ton’ of differences:

• 1 mile driven= 1 pound of air pollution
• 40 miles driven (the average metro commuter’s daily round trip) = 40 pounds of pollution
• 40 pounds of pollution x 52 days (one day per week for a year) = 2,080 pounds (1 ton) of pollution you can keep out of our air by clean commuting

When commuters sign up for the Challenge they are entered into a drawing to win a 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid from the CAC, Star 94 and Honda Carland.

If you live in Atlanta, visit the CAC, or your local TMA, for information on Commuter Rewards. And for those who live elsewhere, please consider your commute options and drive responsibly.