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Although the messages are very similar and the outcomes are the same, specifically promoting the use of more sustainable and active travel modes, it is often more difficult to engage with the general public; there is not the added support from employers or the focussed engagement opportunities of the workplace that business engagement activities offer. While many of the activities and events are very similar there is a far wider and more diverse community of people to engage with.
Sheffield runs the Air aware, anti-idling campaign. Sheffield City Council ran a consultation which showed that there was lots of interest in running anti-idling zones and campaigns. They considered hospitals, schools and care homes, but schools were the most obvious trial candidate. School children are used as clean air marshals. The Council works with parents to educate and can potentially enforce (so far there has only been one enforcement under a Fixed Penalty Notice). Consideration is being given to rolling out to taxi ranks.
The Southampton Clean Air Marshals programme was delivered through a number of events during the summer of 2018. Volunteers were used who are trained in the subject and how to approach the public to discuss air quality issues in a friendly, informative and non-judgmental way. A total of 45 Air Quality Champions were trained as part of the project. The first campaign was a series of events from February to September 2018. The headline results of this project were that nearly 90% of drivers switched off their engines and 105 pledges were made to not idle in the future.
