Mayor Urges Taking Bus or Bicycle to Work

Clean-air advocates are urging commuters to take the bus or ride a bicycle to work Thursday as part of a statewide effort to reduce pollution and raise public awareness about the health effects of smoggy skies.

“By staying out of our cars just one day a week, the American Lung Assn. estimates we can reduce pollution by 20%,” Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez said at a news conference Tuesday.

Lopez was one of a dozen Ventura County leaders promoting “California Bike Commute.” The community leaders gathered at the County Government Center in Ventura under bright blue skies and balmy weather.

The news conference was called by the American Lung Assn. of Ventura County to kick off its celebration of Clean Air Month. Activities during the month are designed to raise public awareness about health hazards that arise from air pollution.

Exposure to elevated levels of ozone, a primary ingredient in smog, can be dangerous to anyone, but children and people with asthma and chronic lung disease are at special risk, said Chris Landon, director of pediatrics at the Ventura County Medical Center.

As children play vigorously outdoors during the smoggy summer season, Landon said, their lungs are still developing and their biological defenses against pollution are not fully mature.

“Frankly, I’d like to be out of business,” he said. “It is painful to have to tell kids who love to be active to stay indoors because it’s too smoggy outside.”

Workers can help by cycling to their jobs whenever possible, or by taking Metrolink or the bus, officials said. In Ventura County, car emissions account for 50% of ozone air pollution.

Jeff Hill, a Moorpark engineer who watched the news conference during a break in jury duty, said he appreciated the effort to raise awareness about pollution. But the 48-year-old said it would very likely have little impact on most county residents.

Hill said he commutes to his job in Northridge and even rode Metrolink for two years. He gave the commuter train up because it was too expensive and offered little flexibility in terms of schedules, Hill said.

“I think we have a long way to go,” he said. “Until we can offer people a cheap, reliable way to get to work, I don’t know how we’re going to get them out of their cars.”