NRCan at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games

SmartDriver in the City

Natural Resources Canada’s Office of Energy Efficiency has been providing SmartDriver workshops for various vehicles — long-haul highway trucks, forestry trucks, transit buses, motor coaches and school buses — to advise drivers about saving fuel while reducing their environmental footprint.

Now, SmartDriver in the City is available for drivers of both light-duty (e.g., cars, pick-up trucks, small vans) and medium-duty (e.g., cube vans, day cabs) vehicles.

Developed with the assistance of a volunteer committee from the urban transportation community, SmartDriver in the City aims to help companies lower fuel bills, reduce vehicle wear and lower accident risks by augmenting driver skills — all while contributing to a cleaner environment.

SmartDriver’s SmartTalks cover a wide range of topics and the potential environmental impacts of driver behaviour, including:

• Progressive shifting
• Components of fuel economy
• Preventative maintenance
• Gasoline vs. diesel vs. alternative fuels
• Maintaining mental and physical health
• Detrimental effects of smog, particulate matter and excessive greenhouse gases
• Impacts of driver behaviour (i.e., speeding, idling, starts and stops, traffic cushions)

All drivers at the 2010 Winter Games will be offered training through an e-learning platform that the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games has developed from print training material. Participants will be surveyed a few weeks after their training to see if they have changed their driving habits/techniques.

Although fleet managers can equip their vehicles with technologies for fuel efficiency, without proper driver training, their time, effort and money aren’t optimized. Natural Resources Canada’s SmartDriver in the City program provides this essential training, so that Canadians can win by saving money and helping the environment.

For more information on the SmartDriver program, visit http://fleetsmart.nrcan.gc.ca.

---

PDF Version [1.44 mb]

To read Adobe Acrobat® files, you will need to download and install the free Acrobat Reader® software available from Adobe Systems Incorporated.