Our Work

Bay Area Air Quality Management District

Clearing the Air for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District

The Spare the Air Program was established by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) to educate people about air pollution and to encourage them to change their behavior to improve air quality.  A Spare the Air day–one forecast to have ozone levels high enough to exceed federal health-based standards–is declared the day before an expected occurrence, and area residents are asked to modify their behavior to help minimize pollution.

Unfortunately, despite its long-running “Spare the Air” campaign, only 2.78 percent of Bay Area residents were heeding the Bay Area Air Quality Management District's call to reduce driving by using public transportation, telecommuting or sharing rides on smoggy days.

The BAAQMD hired Allison & Partners to help meet its driving reduction goals. We developed an integrated communications campaign that comprised media relations, events, advertising, employer relations and ethnic outreach to engage both new and existing audiences. At the heart of the campaign were key messages stressing small, everyday actions to address the high barrier to action associated with environmentally friendly behavior.

Our campaign was a clear success. The number of residents who reduced driving on smoggy days increased from less than 3 percent to nearly 10%, and ridership on free public transit days increased from 6.7 percent to 20 percent, resulting in cleaner air and fewer greenhouse gas emissions.