National Alternative Fuel Bus Clearinghouse
Transit agencies and funding entities around the country continue to be under pressure to reduce operating costs and to run a more sustainable and environmentally friendly operation in the urban environment. Acquisition of alternatively-fueled urban buses has been a popular strategy to attempt to reach these goals. The pressures on the agencies to procure alternatively fueled buses have only escalated with the push toward compressed natural gas as a domestically produced urban fleet fuel. National Center for Transit Research (NCTR) have funded efforts in the last few years to gain a better understanding of the true life-cycle costs and operational issues associated with shifting a fixed-route bus system from traditional diesel-powered units to ones with a different power plant. Acquisition, maintenance and operating data are collected on the fixed-route fleet in Florida and are used to provide Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and agencies with up-to-date information when acquisition or funding decisions are being made. Recently, a life-cycle cost model (BuFFeT©) was developed using data from fleets across the United States. Detailed data were obtained on nearly 5,000 heavy duty buses. These data, however, have not been updated since 2009. As technology has improved and agencies have gained more experience with operating alternatively fueled vehicles, another effort to collect fresh data will assist in creating a more reliable database for decision support. In addition, sharing the experience of various transit agencies with alternative propulsion technologies will be extremely valuable both for the agencies already running alternative fuel vehicles in their fleets, as well as the agencies that are only considering adopting them. The National Center for Transit Research (NCTR - a Tier-1 University Transportation Center) will establish and maintain an on-going National Alternative Fuel Bus Clearinghouse covering all aspects related to the adoption and operation of alternative fuel buses by transit operators nationwide. The Clearinghouse will be a useful resource to public transportation providers, local and state governments, the private sector, and other transit stakeholders seeking the practical knowledge related to the adoption of alternative fuel vehicles by transit operators in the United States. The segment that follows provides a brief discussion of the envisioned activities of the proposed Clearinghouse.
- Record URL:
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Supplemental Notes:
- Resource website/research repository
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Completed
- Funding: $78250.00
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Contract Numbers:
DTRT12-G-UTC22
2117905023
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Sponsor Organizations:
Research and Innovative Technology Administration
University Transportation Centers Program
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC United States 20590National Center for Transit Research
Center for Urban Transportation Research, University of South Florida
4202 East Fowler Avenue, CUT 100
Tampa, FL United States 33620 -
Project Managers:
Volinski, Joel
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Performing Organizations:
National Center for Transit Research
Center for Urban Transportation Research, University of South Florida
4202 East Fowler Avenue, CUT 100
Tampa, FL United States 33620 -
Principal Investigators:
Reich, Stephen
- Start Date: 20121101
- Expected Completion Date: 0
- Actual Completion Date: 20141130
- Source Data: RiP Project 34700
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Alternate fuels; Data collection; Life cycle costing; Operating costs; Transit buses; Transit operating agencies; Urban areas
- Geographic Terms: Florida
- Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Energy; Public Transportation; Vehicles and Equipment;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01494653
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: National Center for Transit Research
- Contract Numbers: DTRT12-G-UTC22, 2117905023
- Files: UTC, RIP
- Created Date: Sep 28 2013 1:00AM