Air Quality Action Day Declared for Tuesday, August 18, 2009

New York Downstate Metropolitan Residents are Encouraged to Drive Less

ALBANY, N.Y., Aug. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- The New York State Department of
Transportation (NYSDOT) announced that tomorrow, August 18, 2009, will be an
Air Quality Action Day, a day when air quality will be unhealthy, especially
for sensitive individuals, such as children, seniors and people with asthma
and other respiratory ailments, due to forecasted high levels of both
particulate matter and ground-level ozone pollution. The alert is issued for
the New York downstate metropolitan region (the five boroughs, Long Island and
lower Hudson Valley).

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090624/NE37166LOGO )

Recent studies have shown that poor air quality can cause respiratory and
heart disease, restrict fetal growth and even cause premature death. Cars and
trucks account for about 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the United
States. NYSDOT encourages metro area residents to leave their cars at home
and/or stay indoors as much as possible.

To help prevent air pollution on an Air Quality Action Day, New York area
residents are asked to take the following simple steps:

-- Stay indoors when possible.
-- Combine errands into a single trip, rather than separate trips.
-- Take the subway, bus or train to and from work or other destinations.
-- Share a ride. To find a carpool partner or vanpool, visit
nycommute.org
or 511ny.org.
-- Refuel after dark. This prevents certain pollutants from being emitted
into the air that react with sunlight and heat to create ground-level
ozone.
-- Bring lunch to work instead of driving out to get it to save time and
money while helping to improve air quality.
-- Avoid car idling.

-- Avoid operating gas-powered gardening equipment such as lawn mowers.
Such equipment releases chemicals that form ozone into the atmosphere.

To receive real-time Air Quality Action Day updates, text AIR to 42269 or
visit cleanairny.org. You can also receive automatic updates on Facebook and
Twitter -- search for "Clean Air NY" to opt in.

About Clean Air NY
Clean Air NY is an initiative sponsored by the New York State Department of
Transportation in support of regionwide air-quality efforts. Clean Air NY
educates the public on simple everyday changes that reduce driving and
provides real-time updates on Air Quality Action Days via text messaging,
e-mail and media notifications. To learn more, visit CleanAirNY.org.

SOURCE New York State Department of Transportation

Amanda Moss for New York State Department of Transportation, +1-202-862-1226,
amoss@cleanairny.org