THE introduction of a hi-tech driver-efficiency system installed on buses could save Southern Vectis thousands of pounds in fuel costs per year and help the environment, according to its operations manager.
The company has taken steps to make sure its bus drivers drive more economically and safely, thanks to a new electronic tracking system, IMAX.
Currently, 85 of the fleet’s 105 buses are fitted with the device, which transmits data by a global positioning system (GPS) back to the Newport depot for ongoing analysis.
The device alerts the driver to rapid acceleration, braking too harshly, going too fast, over-revving or leaving the bus idling.
Marc Morgan Huws, operations manager at Southern Vectis, said the programme was introduced to improve driver efficiency, reduce the accident risk and to save on spiralling fuel costs.
Speaking at last week’s Green Tank event, he explained: "The monitoring device measures a series of things to do with the way the buses are being driven all the time.
"Buses idling wastes an enormous amount of fuel. We have a low idle rate and work hard on that, which helps the environment. The Oxford Bus Company has saved ten per cent on its fuel bill with this system, which is a very significant amount. We also aim to make significant savings with this system.
"The GPS tells us where our buses were seven minutes ago and about how they were driven. If we’ve got a bus under-performing in terms of fuel economy, it identifies drivers that are not driving as efficiently as others and we will retrain where necessary."