Flixbus: can cheap travel also be green?

By now we have understood how important it is, for us and for the planet, follow a sustainable lifestyle, but when it comes to choosing which means to use to get around, especially on vacation, we do struggles to put theory into practice (and put the car aside). According to a survey commissioned by Squared Flixbus conducted on a group of more than 800 Italians who have declared themselves sensitive to environmental issues, more than the containment of emissions (priority for just 4%) the important thing when traveling is the containment of costs (44%).

The same study says that we automatically associate the concept of sustainability with just train travel, thinking that the bus, even if it represents a valid alternative to the car in the city even for boomers, is a polluting medium: 65% of the interviewees stated that they would use long-distance buses “if they did not pollute”, and only 9% would use them to make a journey in a green way.

In reality this is not the case, and why a bus alone can replace up to 30 cars on the road thus significantly lowering CO2 levels, both because it is possible to travel by bus which is decidedly convenient and greenfriendly. There are in fact wheeled transport companies that have launched concrete projects to reduce emissions and to improve their overall environmental impact: among these Flixbus.

Already since 2018 on the roads of all Europe Flixbus buses travel thanks to alternative energy sources: in 2018 the company was the first, over long distances, to have tested fully electric buses, and also pioneered in 2019, with the hydrogen buses. In 2020, then, it was the turn ofinstallation of solar panels on the Dortmund-London international line: a new project that has made it possible to reduce fuel consumption by 7%, marking a new milestone for the company that declared the goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030.

Flixbus has proposed to its travelers too a new culture of travel: not only cheaper, but more aware, asking everyone to do their part. All Flixbus passengers can contribute to make racing zero impact offsetting emissions: just make a voluntary donation (a few cents) at the time of booking which automatically goes to Atmosfair, An NGO active in the implementation of UN certified climate protection projects. In this way, from 2015 to today, they have been fully compensated 80,000 tons of CO2, 32,562 of which in 2019 alone, increasing financing for Atmosfair projects by 75% compared to 2018.

All of this happened as the company got involved by taking part in some of the main international events dedicated to raising awareness of global public opinion on pollution issues, including Climate Strike by Greta Thunberg. One of the latest news, announced on the occasion of Earth Week 2021, is joining Leaders for Climate Action, a network of companies created to promote the fight against climate change, each of which is committed to making a difference with concrete actions. In the case of further FlixBus policies to sensitize employees to follow a zero waste and zero impact lifestyle. Policies that, of course, also concern the type of means of transport to be used: it is also for this reason that the great managers of the company are the first to get on Flixbus buses (rather than by plane) even for long-haul travel in Europe.

Because it is with small steps that big changes are made, even if not everyone is aware of it: 7 out of 10 interviewees for the Flixbus and Squadrati study stated that they are aware that everyone has to do something for the environment, but only 5 out of 10 define individual behaviors as “very influential” in this sense. Stories like this show that it is just the opposite.