Green Arriva
Global warming emissions from the transportation sector can be reduced by increasing the production and use of clean, highly efficient low carbon fuels and electricity, and by better designing communities to include accessible and convenient alternatives to driving.
Everybody should and can help reduce global warming, let alone air pollution, with one simple gesture: leave your car at home. Using public transportation you will significantly reduce the amount of pollution and greenhouse gas emissions you generate each day.
Arriva Malta feels it is its duty to not only provide a cleaner method of transport through technologically advanced buses that reduce emissionsm, but indeed also to educate and encourage more and more people to care for OUR environment.
For this reason the company has launched in 2012 and ECO Campaign aimed at raising awareness about ways to help as well as undertaking initiatives that tangibly benefit the environment.
The Rising Environmental Cost of Driving Alone
Cars account for a great percentage of carbon dioxide emissions. In Malta, perhpas more than elsewhere, these figures could be scary considering that latest figures published (March 2012) show that the number of vehicles in our tiny country has exceeded 310,000 cars!
Added Benefits of Public Transportation
All forms of modern transport have environmental impacts. Well-run public transport has much to offer in limiting and reducing those impacts and Arriva promotes such solutions across Europe, and particularly in Malta and Gozo.
As the operator public transport in Malta and Gozo, we cannot be complacent about the comparative environmental advantages of surface public transport over alternatives such as private car use. We have a responsibility to mitigate the environmental impact of our own operations.
Consider these other benefits of public transportation:
- Safety - Riding a bus is safer than riding in a car.
- Health - Studies have shown that people who use public transportation regularly tend to be healthier than people who don’t, because of the exercise they get walking to and from bus stops, subway stations and their homes and offices.
- Cost savings - Families that use public transportation can reduce their household expenses. Arriva absorbs the increases in the prices of fuels and for a cheap price allows anybody to travel all over Malta and Gozo, all day!
Arriva’s Green Technology
Given the scale of our transport operations it is inevitable that the highest profile aspects of our environmental impact relate to greenhouse gas production and air quality from tailpipe emissions of our vehicle fleet. Fuel efficiency measures, alternative fuels and the composition of our fleets are some of the largest factors.
Our other environmental impacts have a lower profile, but we do not neglect them. We are working actively to make small improvements, for example through energy saving measures at our depot and office sites, water conservation, waste recycling, and reducing business travel through better use of communications technology.
Many factors affecting our environmental impact are outside our immediate control. We work to influence authorities who determine the operating environment for our services, including bus lanes and traffic signal prioritisation. These enable us to deliver more attractive passenger offers and reduced pollution. The virtuous circle of public transport is driven by modal shift whereby optimal loading delivers better emissions productivity. In the case of car to bus substitution, it also frees up congestion and further improves fuel economy and environmental performance of public transport.
Euro V & Hybrid Buses
The majority of our fleet in Malta is equipped with Euro V engines, that meet the stringent standards set by the European union with respect to emissions.
We also have technology called ‘Ad-Blue’, helps us further reduce the emissions from our engines. Indeed, our fleet in Malta and Gozo also includes Hybrid Buses, whose emissions are close to none!
ECO-Driving
Our Drivers are being training in eco-driving techniques whereby they are encouraged to adopt a more progressive driving style, adopting more gentle acceleration and braking and anticipating changes in traffic conditions to optimise fuel consumption.
Arriva Group has indeed played an active role in developing and adopting driver aid technology to support this change in driving style.