Tracking Costs of Alternatively Fueled Buses in Florida Phase II

Florida transit agencies have been dealing with volatile fuel prices and changes in regulations regarding diesel engines and fuel. In addition, there has been an increased emphasis on reducing the overall consumption of fossil fuels, as well as reducing carbon emissions by transit agencies. To address fuel price uncertainties and environmental concerns, many agencies have introduced alternative fuel vehicles into their fleets. This has occurred even as diesel technology has gotten cleaner with recent changes to ultra-low sulfur fuel and enhanced emission control technologies. These advancements, on the other hand, have increased both capital and operating costs for some fixed-route operators and created challenges for wide-spread adoption of advanced transit technologies. One technology that is gaining popularity is the diesel hybrid-electric bus. The growth in the acquisition of these units has been helped by recent funding made available through the federal economic stimulus effort. Some agencies in Florida have made applications and are receiving funding for these buses through the "Transit Investments for Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction" or TIGGER Grant program while others are using regular transit capital funds. The TIGGER Grants were created as a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Typically, FDOT funds 50 percent of the non-federal share of bus capital and stands to have substantial investment in this technology as acquisition costs for these buses averages about $150,000 more per unit. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is interested in collecting and maintaining the up-to-date data on the performance and costs of alternative fuel vehicles as both the Department and local transit agencies continue to evaluate the benefits and costs of investment in the advanced transit technologies. FDOT has worked with CUTR in the past in attempts to quantify the potential cost differentials associated with various heavy-duty bus propulsion technologies. A 2009 National Center for Transit Research (NCTR) project (FDOT Contract Number: BDK85 Task Work Order Number: #977‐18 Research Center) provided for establishing a cost reporting system for the collection of fleet performance and cost data from Florida transit agencies. The response to the data requests, however, has been less than ideal to maintain the cost model current. FDOT is interested in continuing this effort of collecting and reporting relevant performance and efficiency data on the operation of alternative fuel transit vehicles in Florida.

• Record URL:
  http://www.nctr.usf.edu/2011/12/tracking-costs-of-alternatively-fueled-buses-in-florida-phase-ii/

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $90000.00
• Contract Numbers:

  77943

• Sponsor 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
• Project Managers:

  Volinski, Joel

• 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: 20111222
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 20130630
• Source Data: RiP Project 33070

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alternate fuels; Buses; Fixed routes; Fossil fuels; Hybrid vehicles; Operating costs; Pollutants; Uncertainty; Vehicle fleets
• Uncontrolled Terms: Fuel prices; Hybrid buses
• Geographic Terms: Florida
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Energy; Finance; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01525075
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: National Center for Transit Research
• Contract Numbers: 77943
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: May 21 2014 1:00AM