Clean Air at Schools: Engines Off!

Clean Air at Schools: Engines Off (CASEO) is a partnership between local governments, county school districts, regional air quality planners and non-profit organizations in Metro Denver. CASEO's objective of reducing air toxics exposures at schools is accomplished by retrofitting school buses with emissions control technologies, as well as implementation of a behavior change program targeted at eliminating idling of personal vehicles. CASEO was piloted at two elementary schools during the 2008-2009 school year. Additionally, a third school was selected as a control location in order to test the efficacy of social marketing as a mechanism for behavior change relative to traditional campaigns, which primarily rely on dissemination of information through printed signage and materials. Baseline measurements demonstrated that prolonged, excessive idling occurred at all locations; moreover, the majority of emissions were attributable to personal vehicles. Strategies to reduce idling were developed based on a needs assessment of the target audiences and included signage, as well as utilization of direct and indirect social interventions at the schools. Post implementation measurements recorded a statistically significant decrease in the duration of idling (min/vehicle/day) at all three sites; additionally, the fraction of vehicles idling (%/day) was decreased at both schools utilizing the social marketing approach. The control site, however, showed a 13% increase in the relative total number of idling vehicles. This demonstrates that social marketing is an effective strategy for producing behavior change and that its results can significantly exceed those of traditional outreach campaigns.