Whoever declared "getting there is half the fun" must have been a carpool, vanpool, transit, telework or bike/ped commuter.  Plucked from recent headlines, here are three reasons more of us should try alternatives to driving alone ... because our well-being could literally depend on it:  

Changing your commute could save your marriage. 
Can the hassle of a lengthy commute douse the flames of matrimony?  According to a dissertation from a Swedish institution of higher learning, those with longer commutes have more earning potential and career opportunities ... but they are 40% more likely to get divorced.  Daily roundtrip commute times for one in ten lovelorn Swedes stands at around 45 minutes.  Georgia commuters can top that: in metro Atlanta, the average roundtrip commute clocks in at precisely one hour.  Think of all those honey-drenched text messages you could be sending discreetly to your significant other ("u complete me <3") from the comfort of an Xpress bus or the backseat of a vanpool.

Changing your commute could save you big bucks.
Why can't you afford to dine out on a juicy ribeye or strap on a new pair of shoes?  Because more of your discretionary dollars are going toward gasoline.  Of course you know this, but has it really sunk in?  From Huffington Post, this mathematical moment of clarity:

"For every $10 the typical household earns before taxes, almost a full dollar now goes toward gas, a 40 percent bigger bite than normal.  Families now spend more filling up than they spend on cars, clothes or recreation. Last year, they spent less on gasoline than each of those things." 

The quickest way to shore up your household budget - and free up money to do the things you enjoy - is to keep your car's mileage down.

Changing your commute could save a life.
A new study from the Harvard School of Public health finds that motor vehicle emissions have a public health cost.  Researchers looked at premature deaths in 83 urban areas that were the result of exposure to particle pollution, using models to correlate how much of that pollution was the result of vehicle emissions.  The modeling found that in Atlanta, 70 premature deaths occurred in 2010 that were the result of particle pollution from tailpipes.  The silver lining in this black cloud?  The study notes that premature deaths and related social costs from traffic congestion are declining over the long run, as technology advances, control strategies and voluntary actions have all helped curb particle pollution emissions that come from cars and trucks.  But there's more work to do.  And it starts with the daily commute.

The year 1996 was a big one for transforming metro Atlanta. Not only did the region host the Olympics, but it was also the year that traffic information in Georgia was revolutionized by the creation of NaviGAtor. Realizing the extent of traffic issues the region would encounter as employers, commuters and international visitors converged on Atlanta during the Olympic Games, the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) worked with federal and local authorities to create an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) to manage the situation.

After 14 years of development, NaviGAtor continues to expand its area of coverage and has led to easier travel, increased safety and saved time and money, all while keeping pollution out of the air. About 350,000 Georgians get traffic information from www.georgia-navigator.com each week, – in addition to the thousands who use the 511 service for such options as real-time traffic updates, reporting incidents and connecting to rideshare and transit information – and the HERO service has assisted motorists involved in a million traffic incidents since launch. Yet despite all that the NaviGAtor system does to help mobility in the state, and your commute, many citizens don’t realize the impact it’s had on them.

At www.georgia-navigator.com, you can check out color-coded maps that show real time incidents, congestion and active construction.

You may forget how bad gridlock was before GDOT’s NaviGAtor came along, so here’s a little reminder. Once in the summer of 1991, there were two accidents on I-285. Pretty typical, right? Well, because the accidents were blocking the highway and assistance was unable to get there in time, people were stuck in the 90-degree temperature for hours, getting overheated, running out of gas and experiencing heat exhaustion. By the time emergency vehicles heard about and were able to respond to this situation, they couldn’t get through to the accidents because of the overwhelming volume of backed up traffic. In those days, it didn’t take much to seriously back up traffic, because if your car or truck broke down in the middle of the interstate or you got in an accident, you sat there until you could get a tow truck to come move you out of the way. Today, NaviGAtor’s HERO trucks patrol 280 miles of metro Atlanta interstates, providing assistance to motorists and commuters in need. The trucks can also be dispatched instantly when motorists report an incident using 511. Unlike 10 years ago, the average clearing time for a car accident incident is now only 10 minutes thanks to HERO, thereby keeping traffic flowing and improving your commute to work.

To better understand NaviGAtor’s impact on the region, consider this. In one year, the NaviGAtor service saved 7 million vehicle-hours of incident delays and 5.2 million gallons of gasoline. It provided 49,000 motorist assists and prevented more than 340 crashes. By helping us avoid more gridlock, NaviGAtor has also protected Georgians from exposure to the extra air pollution that sitting in traffic creates. During a sample year, NaviGAtor helped keep 186 tons of hydrocarbons, more than 2,457 tons of carbon monoxide and more than 261 tons of nitrogen oxide out of the air we breathe. A big thank you to the dedicated team working behind the scenes at NaviGAtor, because even though metro Atlanta has traffic and air quality issues, it clearly would be a lot worse without the helping hands of the NaviGAtor intelligent transportation system.

For more information about NaviGAtor and to get real-time traffic information, visit www.georgia-navigator.com, or call 511.

The chill of autumn is in the air. And The Clean Air Campaign is glad to exchange all the Code Orange smog days over the past five months for orange pumpkins and fall leaves. Rake in all the Georgia transportation and air quality happenings in this latest edition of Merging Lanes.

BP After "Math": Not All's Well That Ends Well

We're approaching the six-month anniversary of the Gulf oil disaster that became one of the worst pollution events in our nation's history. Our water-cooler conversations all spring and summer included terms like "top kill" and "blowout preventer." We watched the live underwater camera feeds and debated whether the nation's dependence on oil had finally gone too far. And although the The Deepwater Horizon well was finally capped several weeks ago, the aftermath will be felt for a long time.

The Feds have arrived at an official estimate for BP's Gulf oil spill - pegged at about five million barrels of oil. Since U.S. refineries produce around 20 gallons of gasoline from one barrel (42 gallons) of crude oil, the spill equates to around 100 million gallons of gasoline. But how connected can Georgians feel to this issue at this point? Figure in the Atlanta region there are about 2.37 million commuters. Of those, about 84% drive alone on their daily commute, averaging a 40 mile roundtrip to and from work. Assuming average fuel economy of about 20 miles to the gallon, that’s nearly 4 million gallons of gas burned every day on commute activity alone.

So commuters in metro Atlanta would burn through this oil spill in approximately 25 days of just normal commuting to and from work. When will more of us turn our discontent over this situation into something actionable?

Lane ends 2,000 feet.

Survey Says: What's Different About Your Commute
The 2009 edition of the American Community Survey came out last week, with a section dedicated to commuting characteristics. A few highlights:

• 11% of Georgians carpool to work compared to 10% nationally
• Roughly two out of five of us statewide live in one county and work in another
• That number jumps to more than four out of five in the Atlanta region
• Mean travel time actually "improved" in Atlanta from 30.4 minutes each way to 30.1 minutes. For drive-alone commuters, that represents about a 30-second gain in free time each day. Please, contain your enthusiasm.

Lane ends 1,000 feet.

Type II Diabetes Linked to Particle Pollution
A new study has been published demonstrating a correlation between type II diabetes in adults and exposure to particle pollution. According to the researchers, "For every 10 micrograms per cubic meter increase in PM2.5 exposure, there was a 1 percent increase in diabetes prevalence." Although the high season for ground-level ozone has just ended in Georgia, fine particulate matter is a year-round threat to public health. Learn how to limit your exposure and limit your contribution to the problem.

Lane ends 500 feet.

"Mad" About Transit ...
How has AMC's "Mad Men" series - a sleek 1960s cable TV show about the golden age of advertising - garnered three consecutive Emmy awards for Best Drama? According to this New York Times article, clean commuting plays a lead role.

Merge.

Like a marathon runner digging deep on that last mile, many Atlantans are huffing and puffing through these last days of smog season 2010. The finish line is drawing ever closer (officially September 30), but recent air quality conditions are forcing us to limp along the final stretch.

Here are the facts for Metro Atlanta:

• The region has racked up 25 ground-level exceedances for the year.

• There have been nine in September alone -- that's more September exceedances than we’ve had since 1999 – when we had 14 to close out the last month of smog season.

• We're on a streak of seven violations in the past 9 days, with another forecasted for today.

And now, some big-picture perspective on air quality:

• Ozone concentrations in Georgia and much of the United States have improved over the past few decades, even with large population increases that put more demands on energy use and vehicle travel. This improvement has been the result of state and federal regulatory controls to reduce emissions from sources like power plants, industry and automobiles, not to mention voluntary programs like those of The Clean Air Campaign.

• This year, metro Atlanta has been simmering over an extended period with temperatures that have been hotter than normal. Hot weather is a key ingredient to the formation of ground-level ozone. On top of that, the AJC reports only .14 inch of rain has fallen this month. That’s 2.91 inches below normal for the first three weeks of September. But conditions change often. Last year was much more forgiving ... and next year may be, too.

• There has never been a better time to give your car the day off, as half of all smog-forming emissions in the Atlanta region come from the tailpipes of cars. Choosing to carpool, vanpool, ride transit, telework or even bicycle and walk can make all the difference for healthier air. Sooner or later, rethinking the drive-alone commute crosses the mind of every commuter who is fed up with traffic congestion and lost money/time. So, when will you reach your tipping point?

What's a parent to do on a Code Orange day?
The Clean Air Campaign received a call this week from a concerned parent looking for guidance on whether his children should participate in outdoor activities involving physical exercise. While the best advice for parents is to consult with their child's pediatrician, there is a great reference document prepared in collaboration between The Clean Air Campaign and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta with guidelines on protecting children from air pollution. Worth a look for any parent with active children.

Full recap on smog season coming soon ...
Watch this space for a full recap of smog season 2010. The Clean Air Campaign is crunching numbers and will deliver a summary in early-October, plus a look ahead to pending changes regarding the standards by which ground-level ozone is measured.

Sometimes when you want to get your point across about social change, satire works best. That's the thinking behind a campaign in Hong Kong to improve air quality. This mock infomercial was created by the Hong Kong Clean Air Network. Check it out:

Humor works to command attention. So does a good visual demonstration. Watch The Clean Air Campaign's more straight-forward pitch on smog awareness here.

We're one week into the official beginning of smog season across Georgia, and the 2010 version - so far - reads nothing like that of 2009.

By all accounts, the state had a mild smog season last year, aided by slightly cooler temperatures and more rainfall. The first Code Orange smog day of 2009 didn't arrive in metro Atlanta until June 1. This year, we've come out of the gate with several Code Orange days for ground-level ozone, not just in ATL but around the state:

And today is likely to mark a trifecta of dirty, brown air pollution nobody in the Atlanta region wants to see ... or breathe in. Data show we're experiencing a slightly warmer start to May than we did last year. And WSB meteorologist David Chandley points out in a quote from today's AJC that the Code Orange forecast for today is on the milder end of the spectrum. But this string of bad air days reinforces the need for Georgia employers, commuter and schools to focus on two things:

1. Reducing your exposure to air pollution
2. Reducing your contribution to the problem

Learn more about both, plus get some background on air quality issues in The Clean Air Campaign's debut podcast. Chime in and let us know what you think of it. And let us know what you're doing to beat back smog in Georgia.

I remember the moment I became part of The Clean Air Campaign. My then 6-year-old daughter had a terrible cough one night and began struggling to breathe.

She was having a severe asthma attack.

Though we live just a few miles from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, there is no longer drive on Earth than to the hospital when your child cannot breathe. She is okay now, but the impression is lasting.

I learned everything I could about asthma. For example:

• Asthma is the #1 reason kids are admitted into emergency rooms.
• Almost 1 in 10 children in the U.S. have asthma—that’s 7 million children who cannot breathe.
• Asthma accounts for 10.6 million doctor visits a year

Most importantly, I learned that poor air quality can trigger asthma. There are two kinds of pollutants that can trigger respiratory problems, 1) ground level ozone and 2) particle pollution (soot). And the primary cause of all this airborne junk? Cars.

I drove to work that summer as all the facts swirled in my head. I sat in traffic and realized I was in an SUV— ALL BY MYSELF! Everything leaving my exhaust pipe was floating around waiting for my daughter and all the other people with asthma to breathe it in. That’s when I became part of The Clean Air Campaign. I now drive a hybrid, telework, carpool, ride transit, do whatever I can to keep a car off the road.

Just like a former smoker can be pretty fervent when talking to smokers, I confess I can be preachy about not spewing more stuff in the air than we have to. I know it’s not easy to get around in Atlanta without driving alone sometimes. I just ask you to think about it more. Can you ride with a co-worker to the meeting instead of taking separate cars? Can you take MARTA to the game? How about riding with your spouse or a neighbor to work? The Clean Air Campaign can even help you find a carpool partner.

Just give it a try. Change the way you drive and maybe fewer kids will have to take that long ride to the ER.

Rudy Fernandez is the owner/creative director at Radio Outhouse. Rudy and his colleagues have worked with The Clean Air Campaign for 8 years and have produced several memorable radio spots and other advertising projects for less traffic and cleaner air that are heard/seen around the region, some of which have won national recognition.

Major developments on the air quality front have been a hot topic over the past week, as the US Environmental Protection Agency announced proposed new revisions to a federal air quality standard designed to protect the public from excessive exposure to ground-level ozone. The review, which is part of the Clean Air Act, is happening more than a year ahead of schedule. So, how should we take this news in Georgia, where roughly one in five counties fails to meet the current standard?

First, there are many things going right in Georgia with respect to ground-level ozone and air quality. Last year, metro Atlanta registered no Code Red days (unhealthy for all) during what was an uncharacteristically mild smog season. And we have not seen a Code Purple day (hazardous) in several years. A combination of factors have driven this positive change in our state, like scrubbers at coal-fired power plants, special blend gasoline that emits less pollution, commute options programs like the ones offered by The Clean Air Campaign and its partners, more efficient vehicles, etc.

Second, what is clear is that the more research that becomes available from the health and science communities, the stronger the connection between exposure to even small amounts of ground-level ozone and serious public health hazards. The EPA reviewed some 1,700 scientific studies prior to introducing the most recent standard change in March 2008, which ratcheted the threshold down. Today, the discussion around the latest proposed revision is that even more stringent regulations are needed to protect public health.

While it's too soon in the process to know precisely where the new threshold will fall, what is certain is that more Georgia employers, municipalities, commuters and schools will be called upon to help through voluntary actions (driving less and reducing unnecessary idling, for example). There are no quick fixes to meet the current standard, let alone a more stringent standard down the road -- especially in a state where population growth continues to place heavy demand on energy and transportation output. But Georgia is in better position than many other states that will face the challenge of meeting stricter standards because we have programs, incentives and support -- unique to Georgia and already up and running in major metropolitan areas -- that can point us in the right direction.

When commuters sign up to take part in our financial incentives, we're rewarding their decision to try alternatives that help reduce traffic congestion and air pollution. But another significant benefit to us is the information generated by each participant that helps us track clean commute activity. This information is represented in terms of: reduction in vehicle miles of travel, reduction in air pollution and savings on commute costs.

Since the first commuters began logging their daily activity in 2002 as part of the Commuter Rewards program, here's what we know:

• 75,000 commuters have taken part in our programs, logging more than 10 million clean commute trips and saving $100 million on commute costs

• Each day, these efforts mean 1.2 million fewer vehicle miles of travel on Georgia roads -- enough miles to circle the Earth 48 times

• The impact of this reduction in mileage means 600 tons of pollution are kept out of the air we breathe each day -- the equivalent weight of a dozen fully-loaded 18-wheelers.

From this vantage point, it's clear that the combined efforts of legions of commuters are making a difference in air quality. But what difference can individual commuters make? When sustained over a long period of time, there are many individual commuters we've identified whose long-term efforts have kept tens of thousands of pounds of pollution out of the air we breathe. These people have been faithfully logging their clean commute activity online for years -- long after their initial financial incentives that brought them to The Clean Air Campaign have run dry.

The Clean Air Campaign and its partners have created a new program that celebrates these individuals and their dedication over the years. The Clean Air Commuter Champion program recognizes the commuters who have reached specific milestones in pollution reduction because of their dedication to use alternatives to driving alone.

In our first wave of recognition, 900 Clean Air Commuter Champions are receiving a certificate announcing their achievement for eliminating 25,000 pounds of air pollution, a special gift and coveted bragging rights that their efforts are making a difference. And because this is centered around travel to and from work, employers will also receive a letter from The Clean Air Campaign applauding the "green" efforts of their champion employees who found a better way to work.

Each of us has heard the familiar refrain, "lead by example." When you meet a Clean Air Commuter Champion who has been leading by example for a long time, be sure to give that person your heartfelt thanks and a pat on the back.