Funchal's Eco-Driving campaign
May 2010 saw the launch of Funchal's Eco-Driving Campaign Workshops, targeting 180 key drivers within the city. Participants included Funchal's City Council drivers, public transport drivers and driving school instructors.
The purpose of the workshop was to provide key influencers in Funchal's driving community with eco-driving knowledge and techniques. This could then be applied in both their daily work routines as well as having a ripple effect in the driving of the wider community through colleagues, family, friends and general public. Nowhere is this more evident than with driving instructors who have the capacity to pass on ecological driving knowledge, forming the eco-drivers of the future. The first workshop, held on the 4 and 7 of May 2010, involved both theory on the environment, transport and eco-driving along with a hands-on practice demonstration. The participants drove in a pre-established course using vehicles equipped with real-time monitoring equipment, capable of diagnosing the main intervention driving points. Information was subsequently collected on driving dynamism parameters such as acceleration, sudden braking and accelerator position. All trainees then received an individual performance report, in which a profile analysis was drawn up assessing positive formation actions, shortcomings and potential combustible consumption reduction.The second workshop from 10 -11 May, focused on raising awareness of new and smarter ways of driving that reduces fuel consumption and benefits the environment.The campaign marked a breakthrough in promoting a topic that is largely unknown among most of the participants. These Eco Driving workshops form an essential part of the sustainable mobility politics, fundamental in the promotion of CIVITAS MIMOSA Project, and its importance as a strategic instrument towards sustainability.
