Thank you for inviting me along today – it’s a genuine pleasure to be here.

Mind you, I did nearly come dressed very differently from the suit, shirt and tie garb usually beloved by ministers.

When I first heard I was to be speaking at a SAFED event I made a space in my diary to go out and buy myself a pair of desert boots, some lightweight clothing and plenty of sun block.

You see, after a quick Google on my PC I’d discovered that Safed was an ancient Middle East city - the highest in the Galilee apparently.

In fact, legend has it that Safed was founded by a son of Noah after the Great Flood.

Then my Private Office told me that it wasn’t Safed the mystical city of the Middle East, but SAFED the Safe & Fuel Efficient Driving Scheme.

This has taught me two things.

One – don’t believe everything you read on the internet.

And two – if there’s one thing my department isn’t short of, it’s acronyms. SAFED is just one of many that are fast becoming imprinted on my memory.

SAFED – good for passengers, staff & operators.

On a more serious note, I’m delighted to be launching this £1 million demonstration phase of the Safe and Fuel Efficient Driving driver development programme for the bus and coach industry. 

So the chief reason I’m here today is because SAFED matters. And, to my mind, it matters because it does exactly what it says on the tin.

In other words, it delivers tangible benefits in terms of safer driving and fuel efficiency.

And believe me, these things make a difference

Safer driving means:

• Fewer injuries and fatalities on our roads
• Less accident damage to vehicles
• Less unproductive downtime for vehicle repair
• The potential for reduced insurance premiums
• And passengers enjoying a safer & smoother ride.

Fuel efficient driving means:

• Lower fuel bills
• Lower costs
• And improved profit margins

In fact, the SAFED for bus and coach feasibility study indicated that by applying SAFED driving techniques, the bus and coach industry could achieve:

• significant fuel savings – between five and fifteen per cent
• a 40 per cent reduction in gear changes
• and a 60 per cent reduction in safety related faults.

And there are additional business benefits that follow in the wake of these driving techniques.

For example - they result in lower levels of staff sick leave and higher levels of staff retention and recruitment.

They also bring better reliability and punctuality, which leads to fewer customer complaints and greater customer satisfaction – a business win-win if ever I saw one.

Now, of course, every company rightly wants to know what the bottom line is. So I’m sure that operators are asking themselves about the costs of this scheme in terms of driver hours and training.

Well here’s the good news – the evidence suggests that your participation in SAFED would pay for itself within six months just on fuel savings alone.

When you think about its spin offs and its benefits, then I think it’s pretty obvious that SAFED is good for passengers, good for drivers and good for operators.

SAFED – helping to safeguard our environment

But it can also help to safeguard our environment. And that’s because one of the most valuable end products of more fuel efficient driving is lower emissions.

Let me quickly run you through some facts and figures that show the potential environmental gains of the scheme.

By achieving between 5 and 15 per cent fuel savings, the industry could collectively save between 100,000 and 400,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Now, two weeks ago, along with my ministerial colleague Andrew Adonis, I launched our Department’s transport carbon reduction strategy as part of the Government’s landmark Low Carbon Transition Plan.

Underpinning our approach is an absolute and total determination to meet the global challenge of climate change head on.

I am convinced that, if we are to succeed, then one of the things that we must do – and do as a matter of urgency - is build a cleaner, greener transport system.

That’s why this month, for example, we announced a new £30 million green bus fund – a fund that will enable bus operators and local authorities across England to bid for funding towards the additional up-front cost of buying low carbon emission buses.

I believe that, just like this new fund, SAFED symbolises the blend of inspired innovation and practical solutions we need to make that radical, and oh so essential, shift to low carbon transport in this country.

Lessons of the bus simulator

Now, I’m not just proud to be the Transport Minister. I’m also proud to be the son of a bus driver.

So you can imagine how excited I was recently when I got the chance to drive a bus simulator.

It’s an amazing piece of kit and I enjoyed myself on it immensely.

But, before I get flooded with job offers to get behind the wheel for real, I have a small confession to make – I actually drove the bus into a bridge.

Yep….a bus driver’s son and a transport minister who can’t spot a low bridge – even if it is only the simulated variety. My family, and my departmental colleagues, won’t ever let me forget that one.

My time on the simulator did remind me of something that my dad always told me though – driving a bus is anything but easy and the lives of others are literally in your hands.

So, when I see a scheme like SAFED, I know that we are playing our part to help and support drivers to undertake what, by any yardstick, is a demanding, responsible and absolutely vital role.

Conclusions

Okay….. I’m always conscious of the fact that nobody in an audience ever said “great event – but if only the speeches had been longer”.

So, with that in mind, I think it’s time I wound things up.

But, before I finish, I would like to say one last thing for the record - SAFED is making a real and positive difference.

And that’s why I genuinely believe that its extension to buses and coaches is the right move, at the right time, for the right reasons – I’ll be watching its progress in the coming months with the greatest of interest.

Thank you

(This speech represented existing departmental policy but the words may not have been the same as those used by the Minister.)