Cape Town proves good driver behaviour saves you money

The City of Cape Town saved over R3.1 million between January 2018 and December 2023 through its “I am a Smart Driver” sticker programme.

Initiated in 2018, this initiative educates the metro’s fleet drivers who operate City-owned or hired vehicles every day on the importance of changing driving habits, mindsets, and driving styles to increase their safety on the road and save costs.

The City of Cape Town presently boasts a fleet of 10,042 vehicles operated by approximately 13,000 drivers.

The fleet’s activities resulted in the consumption of 78.33 million litres of diesel and 34.93 million litres of petrol between 2018 and 2023 at a cost of R1.93 billion, giving off a total of 291,186 tons of CO2 emissions.

Paying dividends

In the five years that the Smart Drive programme has been running, a total of 10,363 fleet drivers finished their training of which 9,645 received their competency certificates.

The successful completion of their training saw these operators being awarded an “I am a Smart Driver” sticker.

“By placing this sticker on a fleet vehicle, City drivers are committing to be a better, smarter, and more responsible driver,” said the city

During this period, the campaign has yielded significant results:

• R3,175,292 saved in petrol and diesel costs
• 311,778 litres of fuel saved
• 972 trees saved
• 833 tons of CO2 emissions saved

This is against the backdrop of consistently rising fuel prices over the same time and a temporary reduction in activities during the Covid-19 lockdowns, the city emphasises.

Through this campaign, Cape Town employs a sophisticated “driver touch key” information system to monitor operators for unfavourable behaviours such as harsh braking, idling, speeding, and harsh cornering; as well as their individual fuel usage, C02 emissions, and accident records.

With significant inroads being made in fuel savings and emission reduction up to this point, the next goal of the programme is to slash the number of accidents in which Cape Town fleet drivers are involved, concluded the city.