2009 Air Quality Transit Partners Program

Air Quality Transit Partners Program

The Air Quality Partnership (AQP) of Delaware is a group of citizens, public agencies, and private corporations concerned about our region's air quality. The Air Quality Transit Partners bus passes are provided by DART First State. The program is administered by Transportation Management Association (TMA) of Delaware and sponsored by the Wilmington Area Planning Council (WILMAPCO).

On days when air quality is poor (action days) email alerts are sent to our partners so that measures to improve air quality can be taken. These measures include: trip chaining (combining errands into one trip), taking mass transit, sharing a ride or carpooling, riding a bike, walking, not topping off the gas tank, and refueling when its cooler in the morning or evening. The 5 free bus passes offer an opportunity for folks to take the bus rather than commute to work in a single occupancy vehicle, particularly on days when air quality is poor.

DART First State's Air Quality Transit Partners Program, provides employers with 5 FREE DART First State bus passes for each of their registered employees to use Monday through Friday during the ozone season, beginning June 1st and continuing through September 30th, 2009. The bus passes are not transferable.

Ground-level ozone is a major source of pollution in our region and it can have an impact on the health of individuals living in the area. DART First State's program encourages employers to promote transit to their employees with the offer of FREE bus passes and an easy-to-use tool-kit provided to assist in educating employees about the ozone problem. Employer participation in the Air Quality Transit Partners Program is a great way to make a difference in ozone reduction!

Several significant changes apply to the 2009 Air Quality Transit Program

Please read the new rules carefully!

1. Each employee of a registered company, who wants to receive their 5 free daily bus passes, must register individually online at www.tmadelaware.org or www.DartFirstState.com by May 25th.
2. Due to a change in program funding there are a limited amount of free bus passes available this year. It is extremely important for companies to register early and to encourage their employees to register early, as well. Just because your company has participated in this program in past years, does not assure passes for your employees. These deadlines are also dependent upon whether supplies last.
3. For employees not having access to the web, the in-house coordinator will supply the employee with a hard copy of the registration form. The registration survey is to be completed by the employee and returned to the in-house coordinator will who collect all downloaded forms and mail them altogether to TMA Delaware, 100 W. 10th Street, Suite 307.
4. Employees are encouraged to use these free daily passes on Air Quality Alert Days (Code Orange) or Air Quality Action Days (Code Red) which are announced 24 hours prior to the predicted Air Quality Alert.
5. In-house coordinators will receive an emailed Air Quality Alert warning from TMA Delaware, the afternoon before a predicted alert takes place. They should notify employees. Local newspapers, radio, TV news stations will also announce the level of Air Quality in the region through their weather reports. Because we are in the Philadelphia Region for Air Quality, Philly stations Air Quality Alerts qualify.

For more information regarding Air Quality Ozone Season visit wilmapco.org/AQP




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