fleet the safest and most fuel efficient in the UK.

FirstGroup

Passenger Transport - Customer Story

GreenRoad helped FirstGroup UK cut CO2 emissions by 100K tonnes while reducing its accident rate.

THE CHALLENGE

FirstGroup is Britain’s largest bus operator, running more than 20% of all local bus services and carrying 3 million passengers each day in more than 40 major towns and cities. FirstGroup believes it has a responsibility to lead the market in making its fleet the safest and most fuel efficient in the UK.

As part of its global initiatives, FirstGroup wanted to meet a goal of reducing its CO2 emissions by 100,000 tonnes while improving passenger safety and comfort by rolling out a driver behavior initiative across its national fleet.

Research shows that driving decisions are responsible for up to 40%+ of collisions and up to 33% of fuel spend. By enabling better decisions, FirstGroup expected that its deployment of GreenRoad would improve its fuel consumption, operational efficiency and vehicle wear-and-tear while also helping to improve passenger satisfaction and lower insurance costs.

The Solution

After an extensive search, FirstGroup selected the GreenRoad Platform, implementing it across its 9,000 buses in the UK and Ireland.

GreenRoad works by continuously measuring manoeuvres that most impact safe driving, fuel efficiency and emissions, and giving drivers instant feedback to enable self-correction in real time. On returning from routes, drivers and depot managers can review online the overall quality of their driving. A score is allocated to each driving session, giving drivers the opportunity to learn and improve for the future. Fleet tracking information is also monitored and analysed to optimize fleet operations.

FirstGroup and GreenRoad worked together to ensure that drivers understood that the program was beneficial to them and empowered them to operate their vehicles in a more professional, efficient and more environmentally-friendly fashion. The drivers’ unions have also recognised GreenRoad’s benefits.

The Result

The nationwide rollout to the entire fleet of 9,000 buses achieved an almost 70% drop in risky manoeuvres – from an average of 80 risky manoeuvres per 10 hours to an average of 26. Collisions were reduced by more than six percent.

In addition, because drivers have adopted smoother driving styles. They are using less fuel, resulting in significantly lower fuel costs and emissions.

For passengers, there is the obvious benefit of increasingly smooth and comfortable journeys. Passenger injuries have been reduced by over eight percent. Smoother driving also means better fuel economy, especially in a large vehicle such as a bus in which keeping momentum constant is crucial. And better fuel economy means lower operating costs, which helps keep fares down.

 

Photo credit: First Group