Optimal variable vehicle scheduling strategy for a network of electric buses with fast opportunity charging
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Date
2024
Subject Area
mode - bus, place - asia, place - urban, operations - scheduling, infrastructure - fleet management, infrastructure - vehicle, infrastructure - maintainance, economics - operating costs, technology - alternative fuels
Keywords
Electric buses, variable vehicle scheduling, fast opportunity charging, schedule delays
Abstract
The introduction of battery-powered electric buses (EBs) presents promising prospects for greener and more sustainable public transit. However, recharging activities of EBs to extend the total daily operation range, enabled by fast opportunity charging approach, create a significant challenge for attaining better, or equivalent, operational efficiency than conventional diesel buses. We propose a novel variable vehicle scheduling strategy of a transit EB network with multiple depots to meet this challenge by right shifting trip departure times. A numerical example is used as an expository device to illustrate the variable EB-scheduling methodology, followed by an empirical case study in the city of Dalian, China. The results show how the optimised variable EB scheduling strategy can reduce the impact of recharging activities on the operation’s efficiency. It has been found that by inserting a small schedule delay it is possible to save operational costs, especially through a reduction of the fleet size.
Rights
Permission to publish the abstract has been given by Taylor&Francis, copyright remains with them.
Recommended Citation
Tang, C., Xue, H., Ceder, A., & Ge, Y. E. (2024). Optimal variable vehicle scheduling strategy for a network of electric buses with fast opportunity charging. Transportmetrica A: Transport Science, 20(3), 2182611.
