News Updates

Celebrate Clean Air Day

In support of California Clean Air Day Oct. 7, the City of Carlsbad is encouraging community members to take a pledge to do their part to reduce air pollution in homes, schools and businesses.

The pledge includes individual actions people can take to reduce air pollution such as:

• Change or clean your home air filter
• Change your car cabin air filter
• Replace gas-powered yard tools with electric or hand-powered tools
• Switch to using natural all-purpose cleaners
• Buy local produce
• Plant a home garden or plot in a community garden
• Plant a tree
• Walk or bike to the store or transit stop
• Don’t idle your engine
• Telecommute and attend meetings remotely

Share your pledge story for the chance to win a $500 gift card to a local bike shop from icommuteSD. Comment on the designated @iCommuteSD Facebook post for your chance to win.

The city’s is also doing its part to create policies and programs that reduce air pollution in our community:

• Cool Rides School Carpool Pilot Program

o   Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by reducing congestion at drop-off and pick-ups times at elementary schools and reducing the number of cars through family ridesharing

o   Increase safety of travel to and from school

• Carlsbad Connector

o   Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by supporting people travelling to Carlsbad for work to use the COASTER versus driving alone in their car, bridging the last mile gap between the station and our city’s primary industrial commercial cores

o   Over the nine-month pilot, more than 400 riders per week were transported on the Carlsbad Connector at its peak in February 2020

o   The service logged more than 10,000 rides

o   North County Transit District is assuming operations and developing a new pilot program with the successes of the Carlsbad Connector

• Hybrid and electric fleet vehicles

o   Carlsbad police introduced 21 new hybrid police cars into their fleet, eliminating idling during normal stop-and-go traffic with significant reduction in engine idling during extended stops

o   Carlsbad replaced aging fleet vehicles with new hybrid or electric models

• Electric vehicle ordinance

o   Adopted in 2019, requires new nonresidential projects to have 10 percent of parking spaces, or a minimum of one space, to be electric vehicle capable

o   50 percent of the electric vehicle capable spaces, or a minimum of one space, must be equipped with electric vehicle charging stations.

• Pedestrian safety

o   To encourage more safe walking routes, the city painted more street crossings and installed more “rapid flashing beacons” which help alert drivers when someone is about to enter a crosswalk. Locations were chosen based on their proximity to shopping areas, businesses and recreation areas.

To plan for the future, when ridesharing is safe again living with COVID-19, the city is also actively working on other programs to support clean air and reduce pollution such as transit oriented development projects.