The Conti Urban bus tyre, a proven specialist in mastering the demands of downtown traffic, is becoming smart. Continental is factory fitting the complete tyre family with its latest-generation sensors. The Conti Urban HA3, Conti UrbanScandinavia HA3+ and Conti UrbanScandinavia HD3 smart tyres will be available to purchase in August 2023. This makes Continental the first manufacturer to offer an entire family of tyres with sensors, allowing it to continue driving forward its commitment to fleet digitalisation
Digital solutions provide a helping hand with growing demands
The bus industry is facing many challenges. Passenger numbers are likely to rise due to various policy measures, the shortage of drivers is set to increase many times over, and there is growing pressure on companies to switch to alternative drive systems and digitalise their fleets. “We help our customers to successfully deal with these increasing demands using digital solutions such as the intelligent Conti Urban tyre,” says Kalyan Yalamanchili, Head of Digital Solutions at Continental Tires EMEA. “Thanks to our App, ContiConnect On-Sitem and our Conti Urban tyre family, customers are able to retrieve tyre data very easily and conveniently from a smartphone via Bluetooth.”
Reliable, efficient, sustainable: added value for bus fleets in urban traffic
The various ContiConnect digital solutions are a major advantage for efficient fleet management. “We make sure that our tyres offer energy-efficient operation and a long life, as well as facilitating predictive maintenance,” explains Yalamanchili. Smart tyres like the Conti Urban make tyre maintenance simple, convenient and effective. “By incorporating the new Conti Urban tyre into our ContiConnect 2.0 digital tyre management solution, we are helping coach and local public transport operators to offer a reliable, efficient and eco-friendly mobility network.” These are areas where bus companies can win over customers and secure their loyalty.
Operational reliability, longer tyre life and good utilisation of vehicle capacity are also a great help in lowering carbon emissions and increasing fleet sustainability. At the same time, digital tyre management makes it possible to minimise real-life fleet costs, in keeping with Continental’s holistic consultancy approach of Lowest Overall Driving Costs (LODC). “Tyre sensors additionally provide the basis for capitalising on benefits such as remote fleet monitoring and predictive service planning in future,” adds Yalamanchili. National and international Continental fleet customers have been using the intelligent Conti Urban tyre for many years now and are going to benefit greatly from its built-in sensor technology. Yalamanchili presents the statistics: “Experience has shown that ContiConnect can reduce punctures by around 30 percent for customers, achieve a fuel saving of two percent and increase usable mileage by some 10 percent.”
Investment in the future: digital tyre management brings benefits
The tyre sensors transmit live data on tyre temperature, pressure and predicted mileage via Bluetooth. Fleet management then accesses this data using a stationary Yard Reader station or telematics units. If any data anomalies are detected, immediate action can be taken. The intelligent Conti Urban tyres therefore help to reduce vehicle breakdowns and downtime, lower carbon emissions and cut costs. This creates the optimum conditions for carrying satisfied passengers through cities aboard well-utilised buses in an environmentally sound manner and continuing to be a successful transport operator in the future.
The Smart Tyres podcast from Continental discusses the company’s digital solutions in detail.
