South & West Wales - De a Gorllewin Cymru

Green Light for Better Bus Driving

UKs biggest bus operator announces installation of revolutionary GPS technology.

FIRST, the UK's largest bus operator is today announcing the installation of groundbreaking new technology across its entire UK fleet of 9,000 buses that will help improve driving styles and reduce the carbon footprint of its buses.

The move follows a successful trial of 'DriveGreen' in 1,000 buses in London, Bradford and Glasgow. In these cities, buses have been fitted with the latest GPS technology which acts like a giant electronic gyroscope. This can detect dozens of driving movements per minute and immediately reports back to the driver how well they are driving.

The equipment picks up on acceleration and braking patterns as well as corner, lane and speed handling. A 'traffic light' LED monitor on vehicle dashboards flashes green if the driver is driving correctly, or amber or red if a bus driver carries out an unwanted driving manoeuvre such as heavy braking or unnecessary acceleration.

The driver can then make immediate changes to their driving to ensure buses travel more efficiently to produce fewer CO2 emissions as well as more travelling more smoothly, improving the journey experience for passengers.

On returning to bus depots - or even their own homes - drivers can then view the overall quality of their drive on a dedicated website and compare it to the average for the depot. A score is allocated to each driving session, therefore allowing them the opportunity to monitor constantly, and then improve, their own driving.

Trials of DriveGreen began in March 2009 in bus depots in London, Bradford and Glasgow. Since then, First has seen a 70% decrease in the number of unnecessary driving manoeuvres carried out by drivers. This in turn has led to a significant decrease in the levels of CO² produced by buses. Each driver will use around 500 litres less fuel per year which equates to 1.2 tonnes less CO².

First now plans to rollout the technology across its entire fleet of 9,000 buses in the UK by the middle of 2010 " a move which should see environmental benefits from Aberdeen to Penzance and from Norwich to Swansea. Within three years it is estimated that First buses will produce 130,000 less tonnes of CO2, the equivalent of removing 24,000 cars off the roads (source EPA*). This will help the firm achieve its climate change target to reduce CO2 emission levels in its entire UK Bus fleet by 25% by 2020 (on 2006 levels).

Tony McNiff, Managing Director of First in Cymru, said: "This is a significant step in our efforts to improve the comfort and safety of our bus services as well as making a real environmental difference to the world that we, and future generations, will live in.

"The great thing about this project is that our drivers are the ones who can make a significant difference and they are real ‘green champions. By using DriveGreen to change their driving habits " even just in a small way " then the gains in terms of environmental efficiency are huge, as well as in areas such as the cost of fuel to the business, which means we can keep bus fares down, and the safety and comfort of our passengers.

"This really empowers drivers to identify potential to improve their own driving style and play their part in helping to protect the environment for themselves and their children.

"And to encourage drivers to use DriveGreen to help improve their driving style, weekly financial rewards will be awarded to the best and the most improved drivers in our company, achieving and maintaining the highest standards of driving for the benefit of the environment and our passengers."

Jimmy Burroughs, T&GWU Secretary of the National Committee, said: "This will improve the working environment of the drivers. Any system that is put in place that helps a driver to self-assess and improve is a benefit."

The technology used is provided by GreenRoad, a US based company that originally was based in Israel and used the technology to help train young Israeli car drivers to drive more safely after requests by parents.