"Towards an Idle-Free Zone in the City of Mississauga"

Final Report

February, 2003

Brenda Sakauye, Environmental Co-ordinator for the City of Mississauga and Chair of the Mississauga Air Quality Advisory Committee, helps launch the City's Idle-Free Zone campaign.

Mississauga's Anti-Idling Campaign was made possible through generous funding from Natural Resources Canada and the leadership of Brenda Sakauye, Environmental Co-ordinator for the City of Mississauga and Chair of the Mississauga Air Quality Advisory Committee. Lura Consulting was retained to assist with campaign development and evaluation, including the preparation of this report. If you have any questions regarding the campaign or this report, please contact:

Catherine Ray
Senior Market Development Officer
Transportation Energy Use Division
Office of Energy Efficiency
Natural Resources Canada
580 Booth Street -12th floor
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A OE4
Phone: 613.995.5264
Fax: 613.952.8169
CRay@NRCan.gc.ca

Brenda Sakauye
Environmental Co-ordinator
City of Mississauga
Infrastructure and Environmental Planning
Transportation and Works Department
3484 Semenyk Court
Mississauga, Ontario
L5C 4R1
Phone: 905.615.3217
Fax: 905.615.3173
Brenda.Sakauye@city.mississauga.on.ca

David Dilks
Vice-President
Lura Consulting
107 Church Street, Suite 400
Toronto, Ontario
M5C 2G5
Phone: 416.410.3888 ext. 2
Fax: 416.536.3453
ddilks@lura.ca

1.0 Introduction and Context

1.1 Campaign Backdrop and Objectives

Increasingly, Canadians are recognizing that idling a vehicle while parked makes no sense. Unnecessary vehicle idling is a habit that is costing us millions of dollars a year in wasted fuel and is producing needless pollution - contributing to problems like climate change and smog, which affect the health of all Canadians. And to top it off, idling is not even good for a vehicle's engine, contrary to popular belief.
Mississauga's Anti-Idling Campaign - "Towards an Idle-Free Zone in the City of Mississauga" - was launched in October 2001 to help Mississaugans kick the idling habit. "I am declaring Mississauga an idle-free zone," said Mayor Hazel McCallion to mark the start of the year-long, city-wide campaign.
Mississauga's campaign had the following primary objectives:

1. Test the anti-idling tools and information offered on Natural Resource Canada's (NRCan) Web-based tool kit, The Idle-Free Zone, on a city-wide scale;
2. Reduce unnecessary vehicle idling throughout Mississauga; and
3. Enhance Mississauga's climate protection initiatives.

In addition, the campaign was specifically designed to help achieve a number of environmental and community benefits:

• Increased community awareness of concrete actions that can be taken by individuals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
• Increased community knowledge of the problems associated with vehicle idling, and the benefits of making the City of Mississauga an "idle-free zone";
• Reduced CO₂ emissions from idling vehicles in Mississauga;
• Reduced fuel costs and vehicle wear and tear; and
• Improved local air quality.

Key Campaign Features

Clean Air Initiatives. The City of Mississauga incorporated the campaign into its clean air and climate change agenda.

Evaluation. The Anti-Idling Campaign included a strong evaluation component, with surveys and studies to measure the success of each major campaign initiative as well as the overall campaign. Public Awareness. Efforts to inform people about vehicle idling included a mix of advertising, posters, signs, local and national media and Web-based communications.

Workplace Initiative. An important component of the Anti-Idling Campaign was the program implemented to reduce idling by municipal employees, using both fleet and personal vehicles.

Personal Interventions at Community Locations. In order to help change behaviours associated with unnecessary idling, Mississauga recognized the importance of speaking with people where idling is occurring, at schools, GO Transit passenger pick-up sites and community centres, among others.

1.2 The Idle-Free Zone Web-Based Tool Kit

NRCan has developed a Web-based tool kit, The Idle-Free Zone (www.oee.nrcan.gc.ca/transportation/business/idling.cfm), to assist municipalities and community groups in taking action to curb unnecessary vehicle idling at the local level. The Web site has extensive information to support the design and development of anti-idling campaigns. To help refine the tool kit and test its effectiveness, NRCan identified two Canadian cities - Mississauga and Greater Sudbury - to pilot city-wide Anti-Idling Campaigns, drawing on the initiatives and approaches contained in the tool kit, prior to future campaign roll-outs in other Canadian cities and broader, national implementation. In addition to providing valuable information, the Web site includes specific tools such as:

• Market research on attitudes and behaviours related to idling, and barriers to public participation in anti-idling campaigns.
• "What you can do" as an individual, group, business, municipality or school, and tips for setting up community-wide or site-specific anti-idling initiatives.
• An overview of Community-Based Social Marketing, and how its techniques can be applied to reduce unnecessary idling.
• The Anti-Idling Tool Kit, including:
• Fact sheets on idling;
• Calculators and worksheets;
• Games and quizzes;
• Ready-to-use graphics such as logos, images, posters, brochures, stickers, a PowerPoint presentation, an information card, an idling observation form, the Personal Five-Step Action Plan and sample letters to the editor. In particular, the Web site graphics and sample materials provide an important starting point for campaigns, enabling the key communications materials - posters, banners, cling vinyl windshield decals, air fresheners and information cards - to be developed quickly and costeffectively.

1.3 Funders and Partners

The "Towards an Idle-Free Zone in the City of Mississauga" campaign was initiated and funded by NRCan's Office of Energy Efficiency, on behalf of the Government of Canada. The City of Mississauga, Ontario was identified as one of the initial test locations for the pilot campaign because of its leadership role in taking action on local environmental initiatives and its efforts to develop a Local Action Plan to reduce corporate energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. City of Mississauga staff were instrumental in the development and implementation of the campaign.

1.4 Campaign Development and Core Initiatives

Working together, the City of Mississauga and NRCan identified anti-idling projects and initiatives that were appropriate for implementation as part of the city-wide campaign. The proposed campaign was then presented to and endorsed by Mississauga's Air Quality Advisory Committee and General Committee (which includes all members of City Council). Six core campaign initiatives were confirmed for implementation over the year-long campaign:

• Public awareness and media campaign
• Workplace initiative
• Schools initiative
• GO Transit initiative
• Private sector initiative
• Municipal hotspots initiative

1.5 Community-Based Social Marketing

The campaign used the unique methodologies of Community-Based Social Marketing (CBSM) to encourage drivers to avoid idling their engines. CBSM is an innovative approach to facilitating behaviour change, emphasizing personal contact and communications, and providing an attractive alternative to traditional information-based public outreach campaigns. It involves identifying the barriers to an activity, designing a strategy to overcome those barriers using knowledge from the social sciences, piloting the strategy to ensure that it is successful, and then implementing it on a broader scale. CBSM approaches have been used with increasing success to address the idling issue in numerous Canadian communities over the past several years, including Toronto schools and transit stations as part of the "Turn It Off" project (2000). The results from that project were invaluable in developing the Anti-Idling Campaign approaches at the site level. Drawing on the approaches of Community-Based Social Marketing, it was determined that an effective anti-idling strategy would include the following elements:

• First, motorists need to be reminded to turn off their vehicles when parked. To accomplish this, it was decided that the campaign would use metal signs at the various locations where implementation was to occur. This site-level awareness-building approach would be augmented by an over-arching media campaign, including newspaper, transit shelter and radio advertising.
• Second, personal contact is important. It was determined that the campaign would feature the use of anti-idling project staff to approach motorists and speak to them about the importance of avoiding unnecessary idling.
• Third, motorists would be asked to make a commitment to avoid idling while parked for more than ten seconds.

CBSM methodologies were applied in the schools, GO Transit, private sector and municipal hotspots initiatives, and were adapted for use in the workplace initiative.

1.6 Report Overview

This report presents results and highlights of the overall evaluation of the Campaign, as well as highlights and results from the six major campaign initiatives. It is organized into the following sections:

Section 2.0, Campaign Materials, summarizes the development of the campaign materials and includes examples of the types of materials used during the campaign.

Section 3.0, Key Campaign Components, describes and summarizes the results of the six core campaign initiatives that were part of the year-long campaign, including the Public Awareness and Media Campaign, Workplace Initiative, Schools Initiative, GO Transit Initiative, Private Sector Initiative and Municipal Hotspots Initiative.

Section 4.0, Campaign Evaluation, reports on the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of City residents and key project target audiences concerning vehicle idling both before and after the campaign was implemented, illustrating the effectiveness of the campaign in changing residents' awareness of and willingness to take action on the idling issue.

Section 5.0, Key Learnings, summarizes the important lessons that were learned during the course of implementing this campaign that will help in the development of future anti-idling campaigns in other municipalities.

Section 6.0, Campaign Costs, details the costs expended to produce the communications materials, as well as the amount of staff time needed, to assist other municipalities in planning for and initiating their own anti-idling campaigns.

Section 7.0, Future Directions, describes and highlights some possible further opportunities and partnerships that are available to the City of Mississauga as a result of this campaign.

This report has been prepared by Lura Consulting, the firm retained by NRCan and the City of Mississauga to assist with campaign development and evaluation. The report is intended to provide highlights of the city-wide campaign. The more detailed reports that are associated with each of the specific initiatives described in each of the sections below are listed in Appendix A.

What Mississaugans Said about the Campaign

"You guys are doing a great job...keep it up!"
"You should talk to the bus drivers and truck drivers too."
"I wish we could have a project like this all across the country...(and) the world!"
"I am often appalled at the number of idling vehicles I encounter on a daily basis, while walking
or running... thank you for your commitment and concern regarding our air supply."
"This is really one of those no-cost improvements to the environment that doesn't impinge at all on personal comfort."
"I agree with you 100 percent. It's incredible how many people leave their engines idling without a thought!"
"I love the campaign - great idea."
"Thank you for raising your concerns about needless engine idling. Good luck with your continued work in this area."
"Ongoing education with facts and figures is the only solution..."
"Your Anti-Idling Campaign is a terrific idea. Best wishes in your enlightened endeavour."
"It is wonderful what you are doing in Mississauga, I wish it were everywhere!"

2.0 Campaign Materials

The campaign made use of a wide variety of communications materials which were drawn from the graphics and tools on The Idle-Free Zone Web site and adapted for use in Mississauga's campaign. These materials included:

• Graphics and logos;
• Information cards;
• "Cling-vinyl" windshield decals;
• Posters;
• Advertisements used in bus shelters and newspapers; and
• Metal street signs.

Key Anti-Idling Campaign Messages

"Idle-Free Zone. Turn engine off."
"Idling is killing our environment."
"Idling for more than 10 seconds uses more fuel than restarting your engine."
"You can save fuel, money and contribute to cleaner air by turning your engine off when parked."
"Idling gets you nowhere!"
"If every Canadian motorist avoided idling their vehicle for just 5 minutes each day of the year, we could prevent more than 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere."
"All it takes is the turn of a key."

Information Cards
These were provided to motorists at participating locations. The card indicated that turning off your engine when parked saves money, has health and environmental benefits, and promotes more efficient use of energy. Two versions of the card were developed, with the version with the young child used at the school locations.

Vehicle Windshield Decals
Project staff asked motorists to make a public commitment to turn their engine off when parked by placing a "cling vinyl" decal in their vehicle's windshield.

Metal Street Sign
These were placed in parking and "kissand-ride" areas at each of the intervention sites where motorists were most likely to leave their engines running while parked, to remind them to not idle.

Transit Shelter Advertisement and Poster In Community Locations
These large posters were used in the media campaign as transit shelter advertisements and bus tails. Smaller versions were also published in the Mississauga News daily paper and produced as posters and distributed as part of the schools package to give the campaign additional "reach" and serve as another reminder to motorists to turn their engines off when parked.

3.0 Key Campaign Components

3.1 Public Awareness and Media Campaign

Purpose
To generate widespread awareness of the anti-idling campaign and its key messages.

Approach
A comprehensive communications strategy, including a media relations component, was developed along with specific communications initiatives relating to each core campaign component to reach out to City residents with information about the problem of vehicle idling, what the City is doing about it, and what individuals and community groups can do to get involved as well. Tracking the media's interest in and coverage of the media launch events and campaign also allowed the project team to gauge the general level of interest in the topic and the reach of the campaign's key messages.

Awareness-building activities included:

• Media releases and events, which generated coverage in newspapers and on the radio and television;
• Advertising in newspapers, on the radio, on buses and in bus shelters;
• Posters and campaign information in community locations; and
• A dedicated internet Web site

(www.123turnyourkey.com), articles on the City of Mississauga intranet Web site and in employee newsletters.

Allan Rock
Minister of Industry
News Conference for Private Sector Initiative

Results
A mid-campaign telephone survey revealed that 53% of Mississauga residents were aware of the campaign, increasing to a significant 69% who have seen, read or heard about the Campaign in the post-Campaign survey.

Print and electronic coverage of the campaign reached over 12 million readers, listeners and viewers.

Media coverage of the campaign was extensive locally and nationally (see a partial list of media coverage on the next page). There were over 10,000 visits to the campaign Web site, 62 requests for materials and comments from 176 individuals across Canada (as well as several from the U.S. and one each from Portugal and Hong Kong). Of those who commented, 90% indicated their support for the Campaign and indicated that idling is a problem.

Summary of Media Coverage

Selected local media

• "Engine idling targeted," Toronto Star, Oct. 17, 2001
• "City goes green with anti-idling crusade," Mississauga News, Oct. 19, 2001
• "Prevent car-idling hazards," Ottawa Citizen, Dec. 7, 2001
• "Kids on patrol for car idlers," Mississauga News, Jan. 11, 2002
• Rogers Television, First Local Show
• Fairchild Television
• CFTO-TV
• CFRB-AM, Ted Woloshyn Show
• CFTR-AM

Selected national and international media

• World Health Organization meeting on Cities and Health, Sept. 2001
• "Joint effort signals new way to fund city projects," Globe & Mail, Aug. 30, 2001
• "We can't stay idle about idling cars," Globe & Mail, Oct. 25, 2001
• "$1.2 million up in smoke," Municipal World, Dec. 2001
• "City of Mississauga hires students to make idle threats," National Post, Nov. 23, 2001
• "Please stop your engines," Canadian Living, May 2002
• "Healthy Living Cities," Canadian Geographic, May/June 2002

3.2 Workplace Initiative

Purpose
To generate awareness and reduce unnecessary idling by City employees, when using personal and fleet vehicles.

Approach
The Workplace Initiative included two distinct components, both of which were geared toward City of Mississauga staff:

1. Employee Initiative - a campaign to generate employee awareness of the idling issue (through posters, internal e-mail, information on the City's intranet, employee newsletters, presentations and events) and engagement (by distributing the information card and vehicle sticker to each employee with their pay stubs, personal contact with staff at the Civic Centre to seek a commitment to display the sticker as well as a Corporate-wide contest, drawing prizes for vehicles found displaying the sticker).

2. Fleet Initiative - research to identify the best ways to reduce idling in fleets (transit and other City municipal fleets) vehicles. Research consisted of:

• Best practices profiles of Canadian municipalities and private sector firms that have taken action to address idling in their jurisdictions;
• Interviews with managers of fleets and fleet vehicles; and
• Focus groups with drivers, mechanics and union representatives.

Based on research results, a strategy was developed to present custom-designed training workshops to each department and division in the City that manages fleets and fleet drivers.

An environmental studies student from the University of Toronto at Mississauga bringing the anti-idling message to City Councillor Maja Prentice.

Results
Following the Workplace Initiative, it was found that:

96% of City employees were aware of the anti-idling campaign;

31% reported that the campaign had changed their idling behaviour;

Anti-idling windshield stickers were placed on most City fleet vehicles and on over 10% of personal staff vehicles;

Key City divisions (Parks, Works, Transit) have developed and implemented guidelines or communications approaches to reduce idling among fleet drivers;

Meetings with Transit management have resulted in a new policy reducing the maximum idling time for City buses from 15 minutes to 5 minutes; and

Staff workshops have been proposed to encourage further idling reductions.

3.3 Schools Initiative

Purpose
To generate awareness and reduce unnecessary idling by drivers - parents and caregivers -picking up children at Mississauga elementary schools.

Approach
Distribution of anti-idling information kits (including posters, information cards, decals, suggested activities and curriculum ideas) to approximately 200 public and Catholic elementary schools in Peel Region. At a subset of 20 schools, metal signs were installed and project staff conducted commitment interventions and an evaluation component with drivers using information cards and vehicle stickers. Meetings were also held with school bus management to encourage school bus drivers not to idle when picking up children from schools.

Results
Before the interventions were conducted, 54% of drivers were observed idling their vehicles while waiting for children.

Almost 500 drivers were approached at 20 elementary schools visited by campaign staff:
90% were willing to discuss the idling issue;
85% accepted the anti-idling information card;
82% accepted the windshield decal; and
Almost 40% were observed to immediately post the decal on their windshield.
The combination of signs and personal contact at the elementary schools was tremendously successful:
The frequency of idling decreased from 54% to 29%; and
The duration of idling decreased from 8 minutes to 3.5 minutes.
In addition, school bus management advised bus companies and bus drivers to minimize their unnecessary idling during pick-ups and drop-offs.

Schools Media Launch Event

3.4 GO Transit Initiative

Purpose
Generate awareness and reduce unnecessary idling by drivers picking up passengers at all eight GO Transit stations in Mississauga.

Approach
Commitment interventions were conducted in the passenger pick up locations of all eight of Mississauga's GO Transit stations, using metal anti-idling signs, information cards and vehicle stickers. An evaluation component was also conducted at a subset of four stations to measure the effectiveness of this component.

Results
48% of drivers were observed idling their vehicles while waiting to pick up commuters at GO stations prior to the initiative;
Almost 1,400 drivers were approached during station visits;
92% were willing to discuss the idling issue;
91% accepted the anti-idling information;
81% accepted the vehicle sticker;
Almost 14% were observed to immediately post the decals on their windshield;
The frequency of idling increased slightly (48% to 54%);
The duration of idling increased slightly (by 20 seconds); and
GO Transit installed 40 anti-idling signs permanently.
As a result of a drop in temperature and reduced daylight that occurred between the baseline and follow-up evaluation components, it is likely that the initiative prevented even greater idling increases as winter set in.

GO Transit Media Launch Event
with Eldred King, Chair of GO Transit; Catherine
Ray, Natural Resources Canada; George
Carlson, Mississauga Ward 6 Councillor; and
GO Bear, the GO Transit mascot

3.5 Private Sector Initiative

Purpose
To generate awareness of the idling issue among Mississauga businesses and industries, and to enlist these businesses and industries to co-promote anti-idling messages to their employees, fleet drivers and customers.

Approach
Anti-idling information packages were circulated to over 200 businesses and industries in Mississauga. In addition, the Canadian Petroleum Products Institute (CPPI) partnered with Mississauga on an awareness building campaign (media campaign and interventions). Commitment interventions were conducted by project staff at over 50 Esso, Sunoco, Canadian Tire, Shell and Petro-Canada gas stations in Mississauga, using anti-idling signs, banners, sandwich boards, information cards, vehicle stickers and air fresheners. An evaluation component was also conducted at a subset of stations to measure the effectiveness of this component. Participating CPPI member companies also introduced the Anti-Idling Campaign to their employees through the distribution of campaign materials, and posting of anti-idling signs at head office locations in the Greater Toronto Area.

Results
As a result of the distribution of anti-idling information kits to Mississauga businesses and industries:

Eight companies co-promoted the City's anti-idling message to staff and public during their Earth Day 2002 events (AECL, Pratt & Whitney, AstraZeneca, Fuji Photo Film, Bentall Real Estate Services and Square One Mall in Mississauga, as well as Dofasco in Hamilton and Ford Motor Company in Oakville); and

Numerous requests have been received for windshield decals (6000+), information cards (7700+), posters and metal anti-idling signs. For example, Cooksville Chrysler distributed information cards and windshield decals to their service customers for several months following private sector initiative.

Following the CPPI campaign, surveys showed that:
The reaction of drivers to being approached by the CPPI anti-idling project staff at the participating gas station sites was overwhelmingly positive. Of the over 11,000 motorists who were approached in the two weeks of the initiative:
86% were willing to discuss idling issues with the project staff;
85% accepted the information card;
81% accepted the cling vinyl windshield decal, making a commitment to reduce unnecessary idling; and
20% made their commitment to reduce idling public by posting the decal in their windshields on the spot.

In general, members of the public felt that gas stations are a good place to share information about the issue of vehicle idling.
The initiative resonated with the public and is likely to persuade changes in vehicle idling behaviour. Concerned that vehicle idling is a problem, almost half (46%) of those surveyed following the initiative said that the anti-idling initiative is likely to motivate them to change their current idling behaviours.

Boris Jackman
CPPI Chair and Executive
Vice-President of Petro-Canada

3.6 Municipal Hotspots Initiative

Purpose
To generate awareness of the idling issue and reduce unnecessary idling by drivers at municipal facilities where idling has been observed.

Approach
The Municipal Hotspots Initiative was intended to address unnecessary idling that occurs at City-controlled public buildings such as libraries, arenas and community centres. Information cards were distributed to all municipal facilities. Metal anti-idling signs were installed at 20 facilities. Four locations (Mississauga Civic Centre, Cawthra Community Centre, Frank McKechnie Community Centre, and Meadowvale Community Centre) that reported having high traffic volumes at specific times were selected to receive personal contact interventions and evaluation.

Results

Almost 250 drivers were approached by project staff during the municipal site visits, with:
78% willing to discuss the idling issue;
71% accepting anti-idling information;
64% accepting the windshield decal, making a commitment to reduce idling; and
34% posting the decal on the spot, making public their commitment to reduce idling;
The frequency of idling increased (35% to 62%).
The duration of idling decreased (by 27 seconds). As with the GO Transit initiative, this was largely due to a significant drop in average temperature and reduced daylight by the end of the initiative. It is likely that the initiative prevented even greater idling increases as weather worsened.

Frank McKechnie Community Centre

City of Mississauga Civic Centre

4.0 Campaign Evaluation

Overview
The two city-wide campaigns (in Mississauga and Greater Sudbury) were pilots to test the effectiveness of the tool kit and the approach prior to full-scale implementation in other municipalities across the country. Because of this, strong emphasis was placed on monitoring and measuring the campaign's effectiveness, so that key learnings could be incorporated in future campaigns.
To that end, each of the campaign's individual initiatives included an evaluation component to gauge the effectiveness of each strategy. These evaluations were conducted using a variety of methods, such as:

• Collecting baseline and follow-up data on the frequency and duration of idling at each location;
• Conducting surveys to determine changes in people's awareness of idling issues; and
• Tracking intervention results to determine how well received the interventions were and drivers' overall willingness to discuss the topic, receive anti-idling information and make a commitment to reduce unnecessary idling. These individual evaluation results are reported on in the sections on each component (see Section 3.0). In addition to the evaluations conducted on each component, the overall year-long campaign was also evaluated by conducting city-wide pre- and post-campaign residential telephone surveys and intercept interviews with drivers waiting to pick up passengers at GO Transit stations in the City of Mississauga. These results are reported below.

Purpose and Approach
Pre- and Post-Campaign Telephone Surveys
The impact of the Idle-Free Zone Campaign was measured using pre- and post-campaign telephone surveys to gain an understanding of vehicle idling behaviours, to examine the frequency of vehicle idling in various locations in Mississauga, and to get a sense of the perceptions and attitudes concerning vehicle idling currently held by City residents. Two telephone surveys were undertaken:

• A pre-campaign survey - conducted in late September, 2001 - was used to establish benchmark data for awareness of and attitudes towards unnecessary vehicle idling.
• A post-campaign survey - conducted in late October, 2002 - was completed to measure the effectiveness of the campaign, and provide a basis for comparison with the pre-campaign benchmark data.

In each survey, more than 150 interviews were completed. Households were selected at random from the City of Mississauga telephone directory, and surveyors asked to speak to the member of the household who does the most driving. The survey results for a sample this size are accurate within +/- 8.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Intercept Interviews
Forty brief three-minute intercept interviews were also conducted with drivers of vehicles in the "kiss and ride" lanes of GO Transit stations in Mississauga in late September in order to receive "in-person" opinions on the planned campaign prior to its launch, and gain a better understanding of vehicle idling behaviours, the frequency of idling at GO Transit stations, and to get a sense of which methods of communication would be most effective in reaching City residents.

Results
Pre-Campaign Survey

90% believe that idling causes unnecessary air pollution.
1 in 3 Mississaugans report idling at least once on the last day they drove.
The average Mississaugan reports idling for 3 to 5 minutes (depending on the location) while waiting in their vehicle.
90% agree that "turning my vehicle off when parked is the right thing to do."
94% support community action to reduce unnecessary idling.
34% have heard of the phrase "idle free zone." Intercept Interviews
When leaving their engines running, 59% do so for climate control.
When turning their engines off, 31% do so for out of concern for the environment and 31% do so to save money and conserve fuel.
65% believe vehicle idling is a problem.
27% suggested placing anti-idling signage at appropriate locations and 24% suggested running an advertising campaign in the local newspaper, radio or on TV.
Post-Campaign Survey
95% believe that idling causes unnecessary air pollution (up 5%).
93% agree that "turning my vehicle off when parked is the right thing to do" (up 3%).
57% have heard of the phrase "idle free zone" (up 23%).
Overall, the Campaign reached a large proportion of Mississauga residents. A significant 69% claim to have seen, heard or read about the Campaign.

Those who were exposed to the Campaign...
Say they idle less - about 3-4 times less (depending on the location) than those who have not been exposed.

Report idling for a fraction of the time - just over 1 minute compared to almost 4 minutes for those who have not been exposed.

Are much more likely to change their idling behaviour - 57% say that the Campaign will have a strong or moderate impact on their idling in the future.

In addition, the campaign had a greater effect on men than on women, who reported that they idle less and hold more negative attitudes toward idling regardless of whether or not they were exposed to the campaign.

5.0 Key Learnings

Through the course of the planning, development and implementation of the City of Mississauga's Idle-Free Zone campaign, project staff learned a number of important lessons that would be useful for other municipalities and private sector companies to be aware of when beginning their own anti-idling campaigns.

Key Learning Background

1. Council and senior management support is critical.

The Mississauga campaign team fostered and received strong support from their Council and senior management. The Mayor helped launch the campaign, and formal council endorsement was sought and received. The initiative was first introduced through the air quality advisory committee, which is comprised of department heads and Councillors - ensuring both political and staff support. Similarly, the campaign results were presented to both Committee and Council at the campaign's conclusion.

2. Partnerships are the key to success.

Community partners are needed to effectively implement anti-idling campaigns. The City of Mississauga struck partnerships with GO Transit, both school boards, the Canadian Petroleum Products Institute and with the University of Toronto at Mississauga - whose students were instrumental in implementing several of the campaign initiatives. Partnerships with boards and associations increase the comfort level and receptiveness of individual member organizations that might consider participating in the campaign. Following communications with these representative organizations, arrangements can then be made with individual managers and staff at each site to install signs and proceed with other campaign activities, such as on-site visits by campaign staff.

3. Address the vehicle idling "myths".

The three idling "myths," that 1) your engine should be warmed up before driving; 2) idling is good for your engine; and 3) shutting off and restarting your vehicle uses more gas than if you let it idle, are widely held in Mississauga and elsewhere, and need to be addressed front and centre as part of any anti-idling campaign.

4. Get your own house in order.

It is much easier and more effective to ask the public to get involved once the municipality has already taken action internally to reduce idling. To demonstrate their own commitment to its anti-idling initiative, Mississauga launched a workplace initiative to reduce idling across all municipal operations, including public transit, in parallel with efforts to reduce idling at other community locations.

5. Personal interventions are most effective in the warmer months.

It is important to conduct personal interventions during the summer months (May, June, July, August and September) as much as possible for the following reasons:

• Studies have shown that weather and outside air temperature have a strong effect on idling behaviour. If weather worsens or temperatures drop over the course of the initiative, or between baseline and follow-up evaluation measurements, idling is likely to increase. If an evaluation component is being included in the campaign, it is important to plan the interventions and evaluations to happen at a time of year when weather conditions are as least likely to change as possible.
• Drivers are most willing to interact with project staff when it is warm outside.
• The amount of available daylight is greatest, making it easier and safer to implement interventions through high traffic times such as evening rush hour.

6. When selecting optimal locations for personal interventions, focus on drivers that are:
a) parents;
b) non-transient; and
c) "captive" audiences.

Some locations are better for conducting personal interventions than others in terms of ease of implementation and ability to control variables and measure changes in idling behaviour. In addition to criteria for selecting implementation sites that have been identified in other reports (particularly the "Turn It Off" report), some additional factors to consider that became apparent during the course of this campaign were:

• The "kind" of drivers that use the site is important. The Schools initiative was the most successful, likely because the drivers there were largely parents and caregivers, as opposed to general drivers, and that group may be more apt to be affected by the health and environmental messages of the campaign.
• Ideally, the site would be frequented by a non-transient (i.e. regular) population of drivers. In addition to being caregivers, the drivers at schools were the most homogeneous and non-transient, giving the project staff the greatest chance of speaking with every driver using the site.
• Drivers should be a "captive audience" for a sufficient length of time to allow effective interventions. During the Municipal Hotspots Initiative, parents with young children were often so rushed and distracted that the interventions had to be shortened to a degree that likely reduced their effectiveness. The optimal time to approach drivers to discuss idling is at the end of the day, as they are generally less hurried at this time than during the morning rush hour. This is also the time when they are most likely to be idling while waiting in their vehicles, with some drivers arriving 10-15 minutes prior to the arrival of their passengers and leaving their engines running the entire time. Once a long list of potential implementation sites has been compiled, site visits should be conducted to confirm suitability and determine the exact location at each site where the interventions (and baseline and follow-up evaluations, if any) should be conducted.

7. Gear the campaign to target men in particular.

The overall campaign telephone surveys indicated that the campaign had a greater effect on men than on women, who reported that they idle less and hold more negative attitudes toward idling regardless of whether or not they were exposed to the campaign. Therefore, there is more opportunity to reduce idling by targeting men with behaviour change and awareness building approaches when designing both the interventions and the public awareness and media campaign and when creating key messages and selecting locations and methods of approach.

8. Effective communications materials are a key component of a successful promotional campaign.

Communications materials are a key component of a successful promotional campaign. Some effective strategies in Mississauga's campaign were to:

• Draw extensively on the images, information and graphic materials available on NRCan's Idle-Free Zone tool kit Web site (http://www.oee.nrcan.gc.ca/idling.) The tool kit is a great starting point and the content can be tailored for local use. In many cases it is only necessary to add your logo. The images can also be used to create your own new materials, such as t-shirts, hats, bookmarks, radio advertisements or your own anti-idling Web site.
• The City of Mississauga used strong messaging, images and colours to promote the campaign. The bright red colour made the posters, bus shelter and bus tail advertisements stand out well. Having communications expertise on the project team will make the campaign go more smoothly.
• A Web site is a great low-cost way to make anti-idling information readily accessible and allows regular updates as the campaign progresses. Contact information allows visitors to easily make inquiries, comments or suggestions, and response time and printing costs can be minimized by referring to the Web Site. The City of Mississauga used a catchy vanity name (www.123turnyourkey.com) which made promotion of the Web site easier and more effective. The City's corporate Web site also linked to www.123turnyourkey.com.
• If metal street signs are part of the campaign, assume that they will be permanent at the locations where they are first used. Campaign partners initially requested that the signs only be used during the course of the interventions and then decided that they liked the signs so much that they should remain as permanent installations. This means that they should be installed securely and according to the sign policies of the institution or company on whose property the sign is to be placed. Most important is to ensure that the signs are made to be reflective, so that they continue to be visible to drivers even after dark.
• When printing information cards, take the opportunity to maximize the exchange of information by printing them double-sided, with the facts and myths on the back side, along with contact phone numbers and web addresses, in addition to the main campaign messages on the front.

9. Place metal street signs close to the areas where idling occurs.

Some of the sites that may be selected to receive anti-idling personal interventions will be in places where much of the idling occurs in designated pick-up and drop-off zones called "kiss and ride" areas. These areas often function much like drive-thru lanes at fast food restaurants, with drivers dropping off or picking up their passengers and then continuing on. In many cases, these areas are posted with "no stopping or "no parking" signs. In other cases, much of the idling may occur at the front entrance to a building, sometimes marked as a fire route with signs indicating that vehicles should not be stopped in those areas. As such, the introduction of "no idling" signs may not be possible in these areas - signs will have to be posted elsewhere. It should be recognized that many different locations - walls, fences, existing signposts, etc. - will need to be considered for sign placement. Further, in some cases, idling may be most prevalent in areas adjacent to and outside of facility properties, such as on a nearby street. In these instances, approval from the local municipality will be needed to erect the signs. The key objective is to install the signs as close as possible to the areas where idling is occurring, without contradicting signs already posted, or contravening any municipal by-laws. Good communication is needed with the facility personnel who will be installing the signs to discuss issues relating to sign placement and installation.

10. Seek creative ways to find and manage project staff and volunteers.

The Mississauga campaign used Community-Based Social Marketing approaches from the Idle-Free Zone tool kit, which involved personal interventions by project staff to help reduce idling at community locations. One of the ways Mississauga filled its staffing needs was through a unique environmental internship arrangement with the University of Toronto Mississauga.

11. Ensure project staff are knowledgeable about all the campaign initiatives.

When conducting interventions, project staff may encounter questions and comments from drivers about other places where they have observed idling to be a problem, such as at major transit nodes, taxi stands, school buses in front of schools, or drive-thrus. It is useful for project staff to be able to describe the other components of the campaign, assure drivers that many efforts are being made to address idling and air quality issues in general, explain why the current location was selected, and inform drivers that their comments will be recorded and passed on to the appropriate staff.

12. Project staff should offer to place the decal on the windshield on behalf of drivers.

To increase the number of decals (and thus commitments) drivers make, use an approach and script that has project staff offer to place the decal on the windshield on behalf of the driver. Use of the decal more than doubled once that approach was used during the course of this campaign.

13. Project staff should work in male-female pairs as much as possible.

Although project staff can effectively work alone if the implementation site is not too busy, it is more effective for them to work in pairs if the sites are busy, allowing them to approach and speak with a greater number of drivers. In addition, working in pairs increases the project staff's safety and comfort, especially when the interventions occur outside after dark. Furthermore, when project staff work in malefemale teams, it allows women to preferentially approach women, which may help some female drivers feel more comfortable discussing anti-idling issues, accepting the information and making a commitment.

11.0 Campaign Costs

Overall costs for the campaign are outlined below in two broad categories: campaign development and implementation; and evaluation.

Campaign Development and Implementation Costs
The costs to the City of Mississauga to develop and implement the campaign included staff salaries and production of campaign materials. The estimated cost in staff time for the year-long campaign was approximately $50,000. This included the involvement of a senior project manager (part-time); a project coordinator (half-time, on average); and a communications consultant from the City's public affairs section (as required on a task-by-task basis). There was no cost to the City for the anti-idling project staff as these were provided free of charge through the intern environmental student program at the University of Toronto, Mississauga. Production costs totaled approximately $30,500 and are itemized in the following table. It should be noted that the creative costs were minimal as the City was able to use the free, downloadable graphics and materials from The Idle-Free Zone Web site as a starting point for developing the various campaign materials. With the city's population of 625,000, campaign costs amounted to about 13 cents per resident.

Anti-Idling Campaign Production Costs

Item/Quantity	Overall Cost	Unit Cost
Creative design/development	$830	-
Information cards (50,000)	$1,414	$0.03
Cling vinyl decals (50,000)	$3,855	$0.08
Posters (5000)	$1,925	$0.39
Metal signs (265), including installation	$10,000	$37.74
Transit shelter ads/bus tails (65)	$3,443	$52.97
Radio advertising	$4,703	-
Newspaper advertising	$2,522	-
Contest/flyers	$910	-
T-shirts for project staff	$354	-
Launch	$223	-
Letterhead	$225	-
Misc. (copying, supplies, etc.)	$193	-
TOTAL	$30,597	-

Campaign Evaluation Costs
Campaign evaluation costs were covered by NRCan as part of funding for the pilot project, and totaled approximately $50,000. This included two telephone surveys, pre-campaign interviews, and baseline and follow-up data collection for each of the initiatives - GO Transit, schools and municipal "hotspots" - that involved personal contact interventions by the campaign project staff.

12.0 Sustaining the Campaign

The "Towards an Idle-Free Zone in the City of Mississauga" pilot project has been extremely successful not only in achieving local objectives of reducing idling and improving local air quality, but also as an example of a comprehensive campaign upon which future similar municipal initiatives throughout Canada can be based.

12.1 Current Activities

Communicating the Campaign Results
With the completion of Mississauga's Anti-Idling Campaign, the results are being communicated widely in order to generate additional awareness of the anti-idling message. Some of the many ways that results are being communicated include:

To the public:

• Drafting short articles for City Councillors to include in their newsletters;
• Creating "filler" advertisements for the Mississauga News to use when they have space to fill;
• Preparing some notes for the Mayor to use on television to address the anti-idling issue and speak about the results on "Mayor's Hour";
• Advertising in the media, such as further bus shelter advertisements and bus tails; and
• Developing advertisement on the "idling myths" for the Mississauga News.

To campaign partners:

• Sending campaign report and cover letter to each of the campaign partners; and
• Including a sample newsletter to the school boards that could be used in school newsletters. To City staff, Committees and Council:
• Posting the results and other clean air tips on the City's intranet site, Inside Mississauga;
• Writing an article for the staff news bulletin Network; and
• Circulating NRCan's anti-idling newsletters to Council, senior management and City committees. To other municipalities:
• Posting a "Top Ten" list of tips to other municipalities interested in starting their own campaign on the www.123turnyourkey.com Web site; and
• Writing articles to include in NRCan's anti-idling newsletters.

To businesses:

• Writing an article for the Mississauga Board of Trade publication.

Continuing Actions Already Underway
There are a number of low-cost steps that are being taken to keep the anti-idling message in the forefront of Mississauga residents' minds. Some of these include continuing actions already underway, such as:

• Maintaining the Web site;
• Responding to information requests;
• Distributing promotional materials to City facilities;
• Distributing promotional materials to the private sector;
• Providing advice to the GTA Clean Air Council; and
• Providing advice to municipalities and communities when requested.

12.2 Other Opportunities

Further Outreach to the Private Sector
The outreach to the private sector that occurred as part of the Private Sector Initiative resulted in substantial interest from a number of companies, most notably Cooksville Chrysler, who attached decals and information cards to all of their customers' receipts. Further opportunities to co-promote the anti-idling message could be sought through partnerships with other car dealerships as well as other vehicle-oriented businesses, including but not limited to:

• Lube, muffler and oil change shops;
• Car wash companies; and
• Ontario DriveClean centres.

Fleets Initiative
The extensive research and consultation activities that took place as part of the Fleets Initiative could be advanced by continuing to work with NRCan staff in the FleetSmart program to design and produce anti-idling and fuel efficiency workshops for delivery to City of Mississauga fleet drivers in the spring of 2003.

Schools
Because the Schools Initiative was the most successful of all the Anti-Idling Campaign components, the City could partner with local community groups such as Greenest City or Eco Mississauga to conduct further interventions at the rest of the Mississauga schools that were not included in the original initiative.

Appendix A List of Campaign Initiative Reports

Initiative Reports

• GO Transit Commitment Interventions: Summary Report, April 2002
• Workplace Initiative Summary Report, April 2002
• Fleet Research Initiative: Final Report June 2002
• Schools Commitment Interventions Summary Report, August 2002
• Municipal Hotspots Summary Report, November 2002
• Private Sector Summary Report, December 2002

Evaluation Reports

• Interviews at GO Stations in Mississauga: Summary Report October 2001
• Baseline Resident Telephone Survey: Summary Report October 2001
• Mississauga Idle-Free Survey Report, October 2002
• Assessing the Impact of the Mississauga Idle-Free Campaign: Advanced Statistical Analyses, October 2002