PrintTaking a bus saves nature

During the Energy Saving Week "Energiatarga Energiasäästunädal", newspaper Postimees issued a special Energy Saving Week publication, which also wrote about how taking a bus saves nature.

Economic driving has been SEBE's goal for years. Saving both the environment and fuel is very important to us. Public transport helps reach the goal of saving resources that are important for everyone and lowering environmental influences.

By offering a comfy and safe travelling opportunity for more passengers, buses lower the number of cars and therefore traffic intensity on roads. In addition to energy saving, this means safer traffic for everyone. 

People make their choice of vehicle for several reasons. Comfort and flexibility are among the most important criteria. Year by rear, SEBE aspires to offer passengers more comfort and choice by adding departures, developing intercity lines and improving service. Our goal is to present buses as a clear alternative to cars. It is our pleasure to see that our incessant work is bearing fruit. There are more and more people who leave their car at home and go on their journey comfortably by bus.

Bus ride saves the environment

Preferring buses to cars makes a difference in environmental influences. Let's make a simple calculation on covering the distance between Tallinn and Tartu. Based on the average number of passengers in SEBE's buses and the fuel consumption of the buses in use, by using simple school chemistry and math, we find that the environmental load is 3,306 kg of CO2 per passenger.

A research done by students of Tallinn University of Applied Sciences revealed that on the average, 1,5 people sit in a car entering Tallinn. Based on this information and on the fuel consumption of an average passenger car, the environmental load per person is 23,051 kg of CO2. This is more than 7 times the amount produced by taking a bus.

*Average amount of CO2 produced per passenger on travelling from Tallinn to Tartu.

This is not our only option to improve environmental sustainability. Different researches on fuel consumption confirm that up to 15% of fuel savings come from between the steering wheel and the driver's seat. Thanks to special trainings of bus drivers, the fuel consumption of SEBE buses has gone down by up to 4-5 litres per 100 km. Such training has to be persistent, because a change in attitude is the most important. SEBE bus drivers undergo such trainings regularly.

Persistent trainings and driving instructions

In cooperation with Tallinn University of Applied Sciences, we have also analyzed the background of fuel consumption of Tartu inner city buses. Data saved in the gearbox control block of a contemporary bus give work and food of thought to both the school and company.
In Tartu, we have managed to figure out critical lines and traffic situations. In order to give passengers a smoother bus ride experience and save fuel, bus drivers have been given detailed driving instructions for particular parts of bus routes.
Taking into account the rising fuel prices, economic driving has become a true hit, kind of a competition - how to do more with less.

New and economic technology also plays an important role. Five Tartu inner city buses are powered by natural gas. Using compressed natural gas as fuel decreases the environmental pollution and cost of passenger transport. Buses of this kind are more expensive, but the lower cost of fuel and wellbeing of citizens is an important gain which justifies the investment.
By now, natural gas buses in Tartu have already justified themselves and we can recommend them to other Estonian towns, especially to the capital. SEBE also constantly keeps itself up-to-date with other technological developments and possibilities - either ethanol-powered buses, hybrid buses or, in the further future, also electric buses.
It is our belief that a bus ride has to be a comfortable, contemporary and environmentally friendly way of transport, being the best substitution to a car.

Authors of the article:
Rauno Raju, Logistics and Sales Manager of SEBE
Sven Andresen, Holder of the Chair of Car Engineering at Tallinn University of Applied Sciences