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   Incentives for drivers  evaluated  
For all those energy saving measures requiring an active co-operation of the drivers, incentive systems could increase their acceptance and effectiveness. Incentives can be monetary or non-monetary.
Technology field: Management and organisation
close main section General information
  close sub-section Description
   

The success of several energy saving measures, including some of the most promising ones, heavily depends on the behaviour of the drivers.

Regenerative brakes or driving advice systems do not save energy if drivers are reluctant to use them.

The two main strategies to address this problem are

The following will be concerned with incentives.

Incentives can be

  • Monetary: railway operator gives a share of the cost savings to the driver.
  • Non-monetary: Driver is rewarded in a way other than monetary, e.g. by some company recognition (“driver of the month”…).
close main section General criteria
  close sub-section Status of development: in use
    Drivers incentives have a long tradition. In the era of steam locomotives, coal bonuses were given to drivers who used less than average amounts of coal. Nowadays, monetary incentives are discussed but meet wide-spread scepticism on the part of operators.
  Time horizon for broad application: in < 2 years
    (no details available)
  Expected technological development: not applicable
    (no details available)
    Motivation:
    Energy saving.
  Benefits (other than environmental): none
    (no details available)
  Barriers: high
   

Injustice

Main obstacle lies in injustices (relevant factors that cannot be influenced by drivers) that are difficult to eliminate. A driver may lose his/her bonus due to

  • Weather: strong headwinds, wet track etc.
  • Traffic situation: red lights etc.
  • Traction unit: vehicle may not be efficient

Legal barriers

The above mentioned (and other issues) can cause a number of legal problems.

Metering equipment

Drivers can only be rewarded for energy savings if energy consumption is measured. In the case of diesel traction this is usually not a problem, but in electric traction metering equipment is required.

    Success factors:
    (no details available)
  Applicability for railway segments: high
    Type of traction:  electric - DC, electric - AC, diesel
    Type of transportation:  passenger - main lines, passenger - high speed, passenger - regional lines, passenger - suburban lines, freight
    (no details available)
    Grade of diffusion into railway markets:
  Diffusion into relevant segment of fleet: not applicable
  Share of newly purchased stock: not applicable
    (no details available)
  Market potential (railways): not applicable
    (no details available)
    Example:
    (no details available)
close main section Environmental criteria
  close sub-section Impacts on energy efficiency:
  Energy efficiency potential for single vehicle: (no data)
  Energy efficiency potential throughout fleet: (no data)
    There's no reliable data on effectiveness of incentive systems.
  Other environmental impacts: neutral
    (no details available)
close main section Economic criteria
  close sub-section Vehicle - fix costs: none
    (no details available)
  Vehicle - running costs: (no data)
    Incentives are economically interesting for the operator if the additional saving effect over-compensates the bonus payments.
  Infrastructure - fix costs: none
    (no details available)
  Infrastructure - running costs: unchanged
    (no details available)
  Scale effects: none
    (no details available)
  Amortisation: not applicable
    (no details available)
no data available Application outside railway sector (this technology is railway specific)
close main section Overall rating
  close sub-section Overall potential: interesting
  Time horizon: mid-term
    Incentives for drivers meet a number of barriers, mainly their inherent injustice due to external factors such as weather or traffic situation. This could also lead to legal problems. Due to these barriers, incentives (especially monetary ones) are difficult to realize. Nevertheless, the concept is attractive and efforts should be put into an elimination of legal or acceptance obstacles.
References / Links:
Attachments:
Related projects:  EnergieSparen (Energy saving);  Contest Energy optimisation of "Metropolitan" trains
Contact persons:
 date created: 2002-10-09
 
 
© UIC - International Union of Railways 2003
 
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