Sustainable Bus Systems (Phase 1)
Background
Some of the biggest cities in Latin American are facing the renewal of their bus fleet during the next years. As example Santiago will initiate the replace part of its bus fleet and Sao Paulo around 15.000 older buses. These processes are the key for a massive introduction of energy efficient, low-polluting and soot-free buses, beyond the actual Euro V emission standard (mandatory in Brazil and Chile) and Euro III (mandatory in other countries in the region). In this context, advanced technologies require appropriated characterization of their advantages in terms of emissions, operational costs and fuel economy in comparison with conventional diesel buses considering that still the backbone of public transport systems. However, there is a huge variation in local operating conditions, emission regulations, fuel quality and type of service provided by buses. There is a need for verified performance data regarding new technologies and fuels entering the market. There is a clear need to develop test and assessment methodology adapted to local needs and conditions.
A long term vision for sustainable bus systems must consider the adoption of low or zero local emission technologies, low carbon emission, and low operational cost. Public transport need to be clean, efficient and affordable for the public without heavy subsidies from governments.
The availability of appropriate test procedures that represent the actual operational conditions in urban areas in developing countries will facilitate the evaluation and identification of technology options with lower emissions and operational costs. Besides verification of the performance for new vehicles, the fleet owner and the organisation responsible for the tendering operation need to ensure that the busses will maintain their performance over the whole lifetime of the bus in real operation.
Purpose and Objectives
The main objective was to develop a methodology for setting requirements for clean and energy efficient busses for use in tendering process for public transport operators in developing regions including guidance and recommendations to control and follow up the buses in operation. The requirements shall be adopted to local conditions and verify the effects in real driving conditions in developing cities. Also methodology to assess emission stability over time has been considered. Only new OEM products were considered, thus no retrofit solutions.
Activities
- WP 0 Collection of data from exiting buses
- WP 1 Evaluate operational conditions in cities in developing countries. City of Santiago was the first target as a pilot for other cities.
- WP 2 Analysis of existing test cycles versus local operation conditions in developing cities.
- WP 3 Development of a common test methodology and protocols for reporting of data.
- WP 4 Selection of bus technologies (Euro III and later) and fuels to considered for the test.
- WP 5 Execution of tests according to developed methodology on vehicles and fuels selected.
- WP 6 Bus performance modelling under different test conditions using Autonomie Model.
- WP 7 Analysis of data from both the own measurements and the collated existing data.
- WP 8 Development guidelines for busses in sustainable bus transport system, including certification, tendering and periodic inspection.
- WP 9 Work exchange of researchers between Europe and South-America
- WP 10 Co-ordination of the project, synthesis and reporting
Results/Deliverables
- Collecting comparable data on the performance of conventional and advanced technologies, with a focus on conditions typical for developing countries
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A system to provide information to Public Transport Authorities in developing countries to choose improved technology for the new bus fleets to be put in service.
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A methodology to “translate” local cycles to “global” cycles (comparison of the locally/regionally developed driving cycles with the existing global ones)
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Recommendations to consider when evaluation verifiable clean and energy efficient busses in public transport system - everything adopted to local/regional conditions.
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A vehicle modelling capacity in 3CV and CMMCh for future evaluation of bus performance in Chile and other Latin-American cities.
Project Duration |
November 15–December 2017 |
Participants Task Sharing Cost Sharing |
Canada, Chile, Finland, Israel, Sweden, United States |
Total Budget |
$600,000 US (Estimated Budget) |
Task Manager |
Alfonso Cádiz Technical Secretary of 3CV Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications of Chile Email: acadiz@mtt.gob.cl |