Air Quality Inside Buses

The objective of this research is to create a research document that helps transit agencies understand air circulation inside a typical 40-foot heavy-duty transit bus and finds solutions to protect employees and passengers without decreasing passenger comfort, safety, and reliability of the system. The research should help guide the development of future design and performance criteria to support better transit rolling stock procurement and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) operations in emergency conditions (e.g., airborne diseases and wildfires). The research deliverable should include the following: (1) A comprehensive review of existing studies about air circulation inside buses and other relevant passenger vehicles that summarizes: (a) Challenges and concerns, and (b) Methods for improving air quality inside buses, such as outdoor ventilation, HVAC filters, and other technologies that manage indoor air pollutants. (2) Report on the existing air management systems installed or retrofitted by transportation agencies during the COVID-19 pandemic, their benefits, and how those benefits were validated. (3) Summary on the constraints and considerations for potential retrofitting of bus air management systems, considering the interior and external envelope of the bus. (4) Recommendations for the design criteria of the optimal air management system for a bus vehicle in revenue service, such as outside air exchange rate, recirculated air, airflow patterns, and filtration efficiency. (5) Recommendations to move research forward and for future standardization, including recommendations for different bus typologies (cutaways, articulated, etc.). 

• Record URL:
  http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=5443

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Proposed
• Funding: $150000
• Contract Numbers:

  Project E-15

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Transit Cooperative Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC    20001

  Federal Transit Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Garcia-Colberg, Mariela

• Start Date: 20231113
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air quality; Air quality management; Communicable diseases; Employees; Health; Passengers; Transit buses; Transit operating agencies; Transit operators; Transit riders; Vehicle interiors
• Subject Areas: Environment; Public Transportation; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01879056
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project E-15
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: Apr 10 2023 5:08PM