Who We Are
It All Adds Up to Cleaner Air is a public education and partnership-building initiative developed by several federal agencies for the purpose of informing the public about the impact of their transportation choices on traffic congestion and air quality.
It All Adds Up provides state and local agencies free commercial-quality promotional materials that emphasize four simple, convenient actions people can take to improve air quality and reduce traffic congestion:
- Trip chain, or combine errands into a single car trip
- Keep cars properly maintained
- Refuel in the evening and don’t top off the gas tank
- Choose alternate modes of transportation, such as carpooling, mass transit, biking, or walking
Organizations that use It All Adds Up enjoy access to free customizable materials, including advertisements, billboards, and television public service announcements. Tutorials in the Education Center assist with planning, implementing, and evaluating an air quality campaign. Participants may join the national It All Adds Up Exchange, a message-board center where transportation and air quality professionals ask questions, promote their activities, and share ideas and tips.
Why We're Here
The It All Adds Up initiative was developed in response to requests from state and local governments for federal sponsorship of a public education initiative that would help them meet mobility and clean air goals of two federal laws—the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century and the Clean Air Act Amendments. The initiative would also explain how individual transportation choices can significantly reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality.
In many U.S. cities, the automobile is the single greatest polluter, accounting for more than 25% of all air pollution nationwide. Traffic congestion is no longer just a big-city problem either. The time commuters spend stalled in traffic in small- and medium-sized cities has more than quadrupled since 1982, costing billions of gallons of wasted fuel and billions of dollars in time and fuel costs.
Our History
The It All Adds Up to Cleaner Air program is built from primary and secondary research, significant literature review, and a pilot phase with three US Cities. Read more about our history...