As part of a broad training programme to improve eco-driving skills of Wellington's bus drivers a new technology will be implemented to monitor their driving stlye. The goal is to reduce fuel consumption and emissions and to provide passengers a smoother more comfortable journey, while also reducing the physical wear and tear on vehicles. As the New Zealand Herald reports, the telematic technology will measure and monitor the quality of driving of all drivers, especially with regard to poor behaviour such as speeding, harsh breaking and rough cornering. The system will use real-time data to provide drivers with a simple visual feedback (red, yellow, green) about the quality of their driving.Wellington is also a trolleybus city. In 2009 60 new low-floor trolleybuses were put into operation to replace older vehicles. For the time being, the new technology will however only be installed on diesel buses.[více]

ACTUATE's project coordinator Rupprecht Consult visited Gdynia's public transport operator PKT to exchange knowledge on safe eco-driving training concepts for trolleybuses. PKT Gdynia, an associated partner of the ACTUATE project, is introducing safe eco-driving trainings for their trolleybus drivers as part of a wider modernisation strategy. Already, PKT has installed technical equipment to measure the energy consumption of single vehicles/ drivers and at power substations. The data, which has been collected over one year so far, will be analysed and in a second step used to localise sectors of Gdynia's trolleybus network with above average energy consumption. By using the on-board cameras of their trolleybuses, PKT will then produce educational video clips that help their drivers to apply safe  eco-driving techniques for precisely these sectors and routes.PKT Gdynia and the ACTUATE consortium will deepen this knowledge exchange with regard to the evaluation results and impact of the eco-driving trainings at a later stage of the project. PKT Gdynia also supports the ACTUATE project by reviewing the Polish language version of the training materials for safe eco-driving of...[více]

As the first partner of the ACTUATE consortium, Salzburg AG (SAG) has successfully trained all of its 273 trolleybus drivers in safe eco-driving. An immediate before/after comparison, which was part of the ACTUATE training sessions, showed that more than 90 per cent of all drivers were able to cut down energy consumption (by 20 per cent on average) by applying safe eco-driving techniques. In regular service (with passengers on board) SAG expects energy savings of around 5 per cent. With a software solution developed by ACTUATE partners SAG and Cegelec (a supplier of electrical equipment for trolleybuses) it is now also possible to measure the energy consumption for each individual driver during the training sessions. In addition to all drivers, 39 SAG employees from management, vehicle services and the depot who possess the appropriate driving license participated in the ACTUATE trainings. With this approach a strong support for the ACTUATE project across all departments at SAG is ensured. After a successful pilot phase, the safe eco-driving trainings for trolleybuses were introduced as mandatory training sessions according to Directive 2003/59/EC in February 2013. Before...[více]

In order to support their introduction of safe eco-driving trainings and in order to motivate drivers to apply and retain their newly acquired eco-driving skills, all ACTUATE partners are currently designing motivational in-house campaigns. Every campaign will be tailored to meet specific local requirements.Leipzig for example the idea is to implement a bonus scheme for LVB drivers. By applying their eco-driving skills in practice, drivers will be able to collect points which in turn can be exchanged for incentives. The exact scheme of the bonus programme is being developed at this moment. ACTUATE partner BBG will – together with the participating drivers – jointly develop a benchmark goal regarding energy savings (e.g. 5 per cent less energy consumption). The commonly agreed goal will then be the central aspect of internal team competitions with well performing teams being able to win rewards. All other ACTUATE partners are also working with incentives and competitions to make sure their safe eco-driving trainings will have a long lasting effect. Currently all in-house campaigns are being finalised and will be rolled-out soon.[více]

On 12 and 13 June 2013 the ACTUATE consortium came together for a successful third Partner Meeting in Parma, Italy.To kick-off the meeting, the public transport operators participating in ACTUATE exchanged their views on the safe eco-driving training concepts and materials for different clean vehicles types they have developed. The partners also reported on their experiences with the pilot-trainings that had already been carried out for drivers of trolleybuses, trams and hybrid-buses. On the second day of the meeting, all project partners presented their concept for a motivational in-house campaign that will communicate the benefits of safe eco-driving to the drivers. Together with the other partners each individual campaign was discussed in order to ensure a lasting impact of the ACTUATE trainings on all participating drivers (see also news below). Finally, all meeting participants took the chance to be on board of TEP's new Van Hool trolleybus vehicle for a test drive through the city. The test drive was organised to demonstrate a new software solution that measures and records the vehicle's energy consumption in real-time. The tool was developed by ACTUATE partner Van Hool in...[více]

As part of the project outputs the ACTUATE partners are developing training concepts and materials for safe eco-driving of clean vehicles. These training materials enable other public transport operators to train their own drivers of clean vehicles in a tried and tested manner. The trainings for trolleybuses in Salzburg and the pilot-trainings for hybrid buses in Leipzig received very positive feedback from the participating drivers and produced very promising results regarding the energy optimisation of these two clean vehicle types. As part of the ACTUATE training sessions a before/after training comparison (without passengers) was conducted: here energy consumption was reduced on average by 20% for trolleybuses and 5% for hybrid buses. ACTUATE is now looking for interested public transport operators to test and validate the developed training concepts for safe eco-driving. For trolleybuses training materials are already available in Czech, German, Italian and Polish; training materials for hybrid buses are available in German. More language versions and training materials for trams and trolleybuses are currently being developed and will be available soon. If you’re...[více]

The ACTUATE partners LAB and LVB (Leipzig, Germany) have kicked-off their first training sessions for more energy-efficient and safe driving of their hybrid bus fleet. Just like in Salzburg, the partners from Leipzig have observed some promising results regarding the reduction of energy consumption. On average a five percent reduction of Diesel fuel consumption was observed, which is in line with the expected and desired outcome. In order to simulate real-world conditions, the practical part of the training takes place on existing network routes including all scheduled stops. Overall, the trainings have been receiving very positive feedback from the participating drivers.[více]