City officials join challenge to 'clear the air'

SALT LAKE CITY — Sitting on a green metal bench outside Salt Lake Central Station, 25-year-old Shelisa Dalton is calmly doing her homework and enjoying the breeze on a sunny June day.

A senior at the University of Utah, Dalton lives in North Ogden but chooses to leave her car at home. Five days a week, she takes FrontRunner commuter rail to Salt Lake City and then hops on the TRAX light-rail system to head east to the university.

"I'm trying to save money, and I don't like to fight all the traffic and construction," Dalton says. "And I can work on homework. It saves me a lot of time."

Many Utahns will be following in Dalton's footsteps starting July 1 for the monthlong 2010 Clear the Air Challenge. By simply walking or biking to work, using public transit, carpooling and better mapping errands around town, Utahns can not only reduce pollution but also win prizes.

Flanked by the hum of TRAX to the east, the buzz of traffic driving along a bridge to the southwest and the whir of FrontRunner to the west, government leaders spoke during a media event Tuesday at Salt Lake City Intermodal Hub, encouraging residents and businesses to drive less and drive smarter to reduce pollution and save money.

Gov. Gary Herbert said Utah is an incredible place to live with its great vistas and venues, but the area also faces challenges as a result of that unique geography.

"There are days when the beauty is obscured because of the pollution in the air," Herbert said.

Challenge participants can choose from three pledge levels for the number of trips saved each week during July: gold for 20 trips, silver for 10 trips and bronze for five trips.

An online trip tracker allows residents to record daily data. Prizes include a $500 gift card to Overstock.com, club soccer tickets and a lunch with Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker.

"We want every day to be a day we can be proud of our air," Becker said.

This is the second year of the challenge. During a six-week period in 2009, 3,400 Utahns eliminated more than 100,000 car trips, saved approximately 1 million miles and cut 1.7 million pounds of emissions.

The 2010 goal aims to include 10,000 participants, eliminate 300,000 vehicle trips, save 2 million miles and reduce 3.4 million pounds of emissions.

"Become part of the solution," Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon. "With clean air, we all win."

Becker biked to the event while Corroon carpooled and Herbert used the UTA van pool.

The Clear the Air Challenge was created in 2009 by a team of government entities, along with business, faith, education and other community groups. The program is funded for 2010 by a three-year $350,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency.

This year, the challenge aims to branch out beyond Salt Lake City and go statewide.

"As Utah's second largest city, we want to do our part," said West Valley City Mayor Mike Winder, who attended Tuesday's event.

To register for the challenge or for more information, go to www.cleartheairchallenge.org.

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