Spare the Air is a program established by the

Bay Area Air Quality Management District The Bay Area Air District (BAAD), formerly Bay Area Air Quality Management District or BAAQMD, is a public agency that regulates the stationary sources of air pollution in the nine counties of California's San Francisco Bay Area: Alameda County, ...

in 1991 to combat

air pollution Air pollution is the presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles li ...

during the summer in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

, the season when clear skies, hot temperatures, lighter winds, and a strong

temperature inversion In meteorology, an inversion (or temperature inversion) is a phenomenon in which a layer of warmer air overlies cooler air. Normally, air temperature gradually decreases as altitude increases, but this relationship is reversed in an inver ...

combine and trap air pollutants near the ground. Spare the Air days are declared for days in which levels of

ground-level ozone Ground-level ozone (), also known as surface-level ozone and tropospheric ozone, is a trace gas in the troposphere (the lowest level of the atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere), with an average concentration of 20–30 parts per billion by vo ...

(a constituent of

smog Smog, or smoke fog, is a type of intense air pollution. The word "smog" was coined in the early 20th century, and is a portmanteau of the words ''smoke'' and ''fog'' to refer to smoky fog due to its opacity, and odour. The word was then inte ...

) are predicted to exceed the EPA's federal health-based standard of 84 ppb, or an

air quality index An air quality index (AQI) is an indicator developed by government agencies to communicate to the public how polluted the air currently is or how polluted it is forecast to become. As air pollution levels rise, so does the AQI, along with the a ...

over 100. On a Spare the Air day, Bay Area residents are asked through

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

announcements to reduce their driving, refrain from using gas-powered gardening equipment and curb other air polluting activities such as painting and

aerosol spray Aerosol spray is a type of dispensing system which creates an aerosol mist of liquid particles. It comprises a can or bottle that contains a payload, and a propellant under pressure. When the container's valve is opened, the payload is forced out ...

can usage. People especially sensitive to smog are advised to limit their time outdoors. Spare the Air nights are also issued during the winter when

particulate Particulate matter (PM) or particulates are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspended in the air. An ''aerosol'' is a mixture of particulates and air, as opposed to the particulate matter alone, though it is sometimes define ...

emissions often coming from wood burning and other activities become trapped in stagnant air masses. During winter Spare the Air nights, wood burning is banned and violators may have to attend a class or pay a fine of up to $500. Exceptions are allowed if a household has a power outage.

Barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (often shortened to BBQ worldwide; barbie or barby in Australia and New Zealand) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that employ live fire and smoke to coo ...

s are permitted on a Spare the Air Day, but are discouraged and the use of lower-pollution gas fuels rather than wood or charcoal is recommended.

Free transportation days

Non-compliance with federal air pollution standards can mean losing federal money for transportation projects like wider roads, new bridges, and mass transit. To avoid these penalties, each year for a certain number of Spare the Air days that occur on non-

holiday A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. ''Public holidays'' are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are often ...

weekdays, many Bay Area transit agencies offer free rides to encourage

public transportation Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whi ...

use over cars. The number of allocated fare-free days varies from year to year, depending on available funding. This program's subsidy drew increased media attention in 2006 when the traditional three annual free days jumped to six in response to the number of annual Spare the Air days declared being the highest in seven years. In past years there have been multiple free transit Spare the Air days. However, in 2008, the number was reduced to only one free transit day, June 19. There has been no free transit program since 2009. Historically, the following transit providers have participated in the free ride program: * Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) *

AC Transit AC Transit is the main Public transport bus service, bus transit operator in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, California. AC Transit is the third largest bus operator in California, serving the western portions of Alameda and C ...

* AirBART *

Alameda Harbor Bay Ferry San Francisco Bay Ferry is a public transit passenger ferry service in the San Francisco Bay, administered by the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) and operated under contract by the privately owned Blue and ...

* Alameda-Oakland Ferry *

BART Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves List of Bay Area Rapid Transit stations, 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running t ...

* Benicia Breeze *

Caltrain Caltrain (reporting mark JPBX) is a commuter rail line in California, serving the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley (Silicon Valley). The southern terminus is in San Jose, California, San Jose at the Tamien station with weekday r ...

* Cloverdale Transit * County Connection * Dumbarton Express * Emery Go Round (always free) * Fairfield-Suisun Transit *

Golden Gate Ferry Golden Gate Ferry is a commuter ferry service operated by the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District in San Francisco Bay, part of the Bay Area of Northern California, United States. Regular service is run to the Ferry Bui ...

Golden Gate Transit Golden Gate Transit (GGT) is a public transportation system serving the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in California, United States. It primarily serves Marin County, Sonoma County, and San Francisco, and also provides limited ser ...

* Napa VINE *

San Francisco Muni The San Francisco Municipal Railway (SF Muni or Muni ) is the primary public transit system within San Francisco, California. It operates a system of bus routes (including trolleybuses), the Muni Metro light rail system, three historic cable ...

* Petaluma Transit * Rio Vista Breeze *

SamTrans SamTrans (stylized as samTrans; officially the San Mateo County Transit District) is a public transport agency in and around San Mateo, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It provides bus service throughout San Mateo County and into porti ...

* Santa Rosa CityBus * Sonoma County Transit * Tri-Delta Transit * Union City Transit * Vacaville City Coach * Vallejo Transit * VTA * Napa VINE *

WestCAT WestCAT is a public transportation service in western Contra Costa County (north of Alameda County, California, Alameda County). It is a service of the Western Contra Costa Transit Authority. Contra Costa County has four public bus transportation ...

Wheels A wheel is a rotating component (typically circular in shape) that is intended to turn on an axle bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction with axl ...

Criticism of free transportation days

The program has drawn criticism for doing little to alleviate pollution.

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

researcher Aaron Golub calculated the cost per ton of pollution removed as a result of Spare the Air was estimated at $100,000 per ton for

nitrogen oxide Nitrogen oxide may refer to a binary compound of oxygen and nitrogen, or a mixture of such compounds: Charge-neutral *Nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen(II) oxide, or nitrogen monoxide * Nitrogen dioxide (), nitrogen(IV) oxide * Nitrogen trioxide (), o ...

and

hydrocarbons In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and hydrophobic; their odor is usually faint, and may b ...

and $10 million per ton for

particulate matter Particulate matter (PM) or particulates are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspended in the air. An ''aerosol'' is a mixture of particulates and air, as opposed to the particulate matter alone, though it is sometimes defin ...

, compared to $5,000 and $20,000 per ton respectively for a pollution reduction program. The cost for Spare the Air free fares is about $2 million a day, and MTC has claimed that the goal of the program is not reducing air pollution, but rather as an incentive for people to consider public transit. In addition, the free fares also attract criminal elements. Crime on BART increased, with BART police blaming youths riding for free for fights, assaults, burglaries, and robberies. Calls to BART police spiked by over 100%, compared to a 10% increase in the number of passengers on the same day the previous year. Because of this, BART is considering restricting free rides to only the morning commute. Riders of ferries also complained about severe overcrowding, with ferry ridership on the Sausalito ferry experiencing a 500% increase from normal and ridership on the Larkspur ferry increasing by 150% from ridership a week previous.2006 Spare the Air Overview
/ref>

References

External links

Spare the Air program home pageSpare the Air frequently asked questions
(

KGO-TV KGO-TV (channel 7) is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It has been owned and operated by the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network through its ABC Owne ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Spare The Air Program Environment of California Public transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area Air pollution in California Environment of the San Francisco Bay Area

Free transportation days

Criticism of free transportation days

See also

References

External links