| March 5, 2010
The South Coast Air Quality Management District today launched the nation’s
first fully featured smart-phone application for a wide range of air quality
information.
The free application, designed for the iPhone™, iPad, and iPod Touch®,
features real-time and forecasted air quality levels for user-selected
areas; a user-friendly carbon footprint calculator, an interactive map of
alternative fuel filling stations, air quality news and other features that
can provide immediate access to materials that help promote healthy living.
“Now, for the first time, Southland residents have the ability to find out
air quality levels in their neighborhood in the palm of their hand,” said
William A. Burke, Ed.D., AQMD’s Board Chairman. “The application also gives
them the tools to take personal actions to reduce air pollution. We
understand that our residents need access to key health information using
new methods and this iPhone app is indicative of this thinking.”
One of the useful features of the app allows users to report smoking
vehicles either through a direct-dial to AQMD’s CUT-SMOG hotline or a voice
recording that can be sent at a later time. To help Southland residents get
involved in the fight to clean the region’s air, the app includes an online
form to join AQMD’s Clean Air Congress, a group of thousands of residents
who keep in touch with new clean air technologies and air quality issues
that affect their communities through AQMD. The app also includes specific
steps that residents can take to reduce their air pollution and carbon
footprint.
The app shows the locations of hundreds of alternative fuel stations in the
four-county region including natural gas, electricity, hydrogen and propane.
Once a fueling station is selected, the app directs users to it with an
interactive map.
The free app can be downloaded now at the
Apple App
Store. To view a short video on the app visit
http://www.aqmd.gov/ej/CAC/smartphones.htm.
AQMD is working on other “new media” applications for other smart phones and
mobile devices.
AQMD is the air pollution control agency for Orange County and major
portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
|
