Eco driving for a large fleet
Funchal’s steep hills make driving around the city expensive in terms of financial and environmental costs. To minimise the negative impacts, Funchal is working towards fostering environmentally-conscious driving habits among drivers of the public transport fleet.
Implementing sustainable mobility
In Funchal, eco-driving has largely been a little-known concept. The hilly cityscape causes high levels of fuel consumption, air and noise emissions. It is also heavy on the cars and results in high maintenance costs. This is particularly an issue for the financial sustainability of the public transport operator. Eco-driving can minimise these problems. Funchal’s public transport operator and the municipality have teamed up to design eco-driving procedures tailored to the topography of the city.
The main goal of the measure is to:
>> Conduct eco-driving trainings for the municipality, the local and regional public transport operators;
>> Evaluate drivers’ performance in terms of fuel consumption; and
>> Implement an incentive scheme to reward eco-driving among local public transport drivers.
An energy audit of the public transport operator in 2004 concluded that eco-driving could lead to annual fuel savings of 6 percent. This assessment also prompted the municipality that employs a total of 200 drivers and has high levels of fuel consumption to look into more sensible driving habits.
How is the measure progressing
The measure started off with a tender process to purchase software and hardware, as well as instant consumption meters to evaluate training results and demonstrate the impact of eco-driving. A system called Traffilog was bought that offers tools to save money on operational costs of the public transport fleet. It provides location-based solutions through real-time GPS data of all vehicles. The system can also send real-time alerts to the control room and the drivers, for example feedback on driving times, fuel consumption and estimated costs including maintenance.
Funchal will develop eco-driving procedures tailored to the city, provide trainings, develop incentives and evaluate the impacts of the measure. The city will also produce dissemination materials for different target groups to inform citizens about the measure. This is hoped to not only increase awareness of eco-driving among professional drivers but also among citizens more widely.
What are the expected results of the measure
Funchal expects that the measure will have a positive impact on air quality, noise and the maintenance costs of vehicles. The city projects that:
>> 290 people a year will be trained in eco-driving; and
>> The fleets’ fuel consumption will fall by 6 percent.
Contact: Andreia Quintal
