Environment
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 to governments and transport authorities across Europe.
As an operator of large fleets of vehicles, we cannot be complacent about the comparative environmental advantages of surface public transport over alternatives such as private car use and airline travel. We have a responsibility to mitigate the environmental impact of our own operations.
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.
Our environmental management system sets out framework policies for all the companies in the group. These include self-audit and self-certification policies that require a senior manager within each business to take personal accountability for consistent management of environmental standards and performance.
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.
In 2008 we set a target to reduce our like-for-like greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint by 15 per cent measured from 2006 to 2012, and are well on track to achieve that through a combination of improved operating techniques, the use of alternative fuels and alternative vehicle technologies.
Our continued investment in modernisation of our fleet has increased the proportion of vehicles meeting the more stringent Euro IV, Euro V and EEV engine standards, and mileage operated by them.
Training in eco-driving techniques is being extended across our businesses. Drivers 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. We have played an active role in developing and adopting driver aid technology to support this change in driving style.
Arriva has gained a wide range of experience in the application of biofuels in differing operating environments with varied climatic and network conditions.
A significant increase in the deployment of biofuels would be dependent on consistently supportive public policy regimes. Where the supporting infrastructure and commercial frameworks are in place we continue to appraise the suitability of alternative fuels or traction technologies, often in partnership with contracting authorities for deployment on specific services.
Working with suppliers, we aim to influence future vehicle designs by investing in innovation and helping with trials of new technology.
One of our long standing aims has been to reverse the trend for successive generations of buses to be heavier, and less economical. Increased weight has often come about for good reasons including higher safety and comfort specifications, and improved accessibility, but makes it harder to save fuel. Alongside other operators we have encouraged vehicle manufacturers to examine alternative engineering solutions.
Across Arriva we are working to decrease the amount of waste created by our operations and increase the proportion of waste which is recycled. Recycling schemes are widespread in our offices. Specialist waste contractors are used for the disposal of waste from engineering workshops and depots.
Find out more about corporate responsibility at Arriva in our corporate brochure.
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