The Adoption of Electric Buses in Transit; A Multi-Criteria Analysis of Transit Providers' Preference

摘要

Transit is always considered a suitable target to considerably decarbonize the transportation sector. The nature of bus transit operation, with fixed routes and timely schedules, offers a suitable setting to utilize electric powertrain technology. However, it is evident in the literature that there is a lack of research that investigates the willingness, or lack thereof, of service providers to adopt electric bus technology. Even though they are at the forefront of the procurement, operation, and the maintenance of e-Buses. This study contributes to address this gap and provides evidence on the perspectives of transit providers in Canada as it relates to the implementation of the electric bus in the transit context. Toward that end, this study employs the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) model to quantify the relative importance of five main categories and 20 attributes that are thought to govern the perspective of transit providers. The initial results indicate the operational feasibility of the electric bus is the keystone for the transit providers, which is followed by the financial feasibility of the e-Bus in transit. That said, operational feasibility is by far the dominating factor for the adoption of e-Bus. In particular, the results indicate that both operational availability (range & charging time), and operational flexibility are the significant contributing attributes to the adoption of e-Bus in transit. Overall, this study provides blueprints for both policy makers and transit industry to develop a feasible business case for e-Bus adoption in transit.