SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Heres some good news for the motorcoach industry from a sustainable-energy expert: Buses and motorcoaches are 80- to 95-percent more energy efficient than other forms of transportation.

Heres how to capitalize on that news: Motorcoach operators can save money, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote their businesses through a certification program operated by the University of Vermont.

"When we look at all the options that are out there in the transportation system and whats green, you guys are the greenest," David Kestenbaum, director of the Certification for Sustainable Transportation program at the University of Vermont, told members of the California Bus Association at their annual Convention and Trade Show here.

"You guys may not have gotten into the business of buses and motorcoaches to offer low-impact travel to the public, but by default you did. You move people really efficiently."

The Certification for Sustainable Transportation program at the University of Vermont is an outgrowth of the Green Coach Certification Pilot Program. (See March 15, 2009, and July 1, 2010, issues of Bus & Motorcoach News.)

Currently in its "soft-launch" stage, the new initiative has signed on companies that operate more than 15 percent of all the buses in North America, according to Kestenbaum.

The program is designed to help consumers identify and choose the highest-performing, lowest-impact forms of transportation, and helps operators reach environmentally conscious consumers and save even more energy, he said.

The programs core is an "eRating" label, which is similar to the Energy Star system for appliances, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program for buildings and organic certification for food.

Once a company qualifies, it can use the labels on its buses, and in print and new-media ads and marketing materials.

The label certifies that a company has met research-based energy-efficiency criteria. The criteria include greenhouse gas emissions per passenger mile, fuel type and training programs and policies. There are four levels of certification.

The label also shows that drivers have completed a pair of hour-long online classes in idle-free driving and "eco-driving."

Drivers are trained to use "smart starts and stops" by avoiding aggressive acceleration, speeding and braking; monitor speed to maintain an efficient and consistent speed; keep RPM levels as low as possible for the speed; keep the vehicle properly maintained, and eliminate unnecessary idling.

Kestenbaum said the training can result in big savings.

"Research on eco-driving courses show that typically after the first year of taking the course, a driver can reduce his fuel use and consumption by 15 to 25 percent," he said, noting that fuel savings for professional bus drivers are likely to be lower.

"Our assumption is that bus and motorcoach drivers are already trained not to drive aggressively," he says. "So, more realistically, after both our training programs, we can help a company reduce fuel consumption in the range of 2 to 8 percent."

The cost for Green Coach Certification is about $26 per vehicle, depending on the number of vehicles submitted for certification per applicant.

For each vehicle registered, 1.25 persons can take the online training courses free of charge. Otherwise, the cost of the training program is $20 for one class or $25 for both.

The programs official launch is slated for early next year. More information is available on the programs website at www.erating.org.