Spatial Refueling Patterns of Drivers of Alternative-Fuel and Conventional Vehicles

在未来几十年，从汽油和柴油过渡到替代燃料的国家将需要大量投资新的加油站基础设施。 加油站将需要位于方便早期采用替代燃料车辆（AFV）的地方。 然而，什么是“方便”一直是一个有争议的问题。 特别是，两组用于部署新站的优化模型采取了不同的方便的观点。 一组旨在最大限度地减少从家到车站的距离，而另一组则将车站定位在“途中”-人们经常从出发地到目的地的路线上。 然而，哪种方法最适合AFV驾驶员的实际行为尚不清楚。 为了深入了解加油行为，研究人员查阅了1983年和1984年的两项研究。 鉴于当时道路上的AFV数量很少，这些研究使用柴油司机作为替代燃料站相对稀缺的情况下早期AFV司机可能表现出的加油模式的代理。 与20世纪80年代的柴油燃料网络相比，当代替代燃料司机的加油站模式要稀疏得多，因此需要更适合当前条件的新模式。 该研究项目将调查司机的加油模式和行为，以更好地了解部署新加油站的假设。 司机将在加油站接受采访。 调查将询问他们当前旅行的地理细节。 社会经济和人口统计数据将被收集，司机将被问到他们是否从他们想要的路线绕道，为什么他们选择这个站，以及其他问题。 为了调查站点和情况的影响，将对一些AFV站点和一组对照加油站进行采样，以代表各种地理环境，包括城市、郊区、州际公路和主干道。基于地理信息系统的分析将用于测量离家距离、最短路径偏差以及车站服务区的地理特征。该项目将提高对不断变化的旅行行为的理解，过去的研究没有提供足够的信息或见解。 近30年前进行的研究将被更新和扩展，以检查实际替代燃料汽车司机的行为。 该项目将有助于文献绕行行为，距离衰减，零售服务区，并采用AFV，它提供了一个急需的经验基础，理论模型的最佳站点位置。 该项目将有助于克服使用替代燃料车辆的最大障碍，即缺乏加油基础设施，从而为应对全球气候变化和当地空气污染作出更广泛的努力。 了解司机何时何地加油将使行业能够更有效地找到加油站。美国将通过节省加油站的资金、增加装甲车辆的采用、减少对外国石油的依赖以及在美国发展绿色就业机会和清洁工业而受益。

Over the next several decades, countries transitioning from gasoline and diesel to alternative fuels will need to invest heavily in new refueling station infrastructures. Refueling stations will need to be located in places convenient for early adopters of alternative-fuel vehicles (AFVs). What constitutes "convenience", however, has been a matter of debate. In particular, two groups of optimization models used to deploy new stations have taken divergent views of convenience. One group aims to minimize distance traveled from homes to stations, while the other locates stations "on the way" -- on the routes people regularly travel from their origins to their destinations. Which approach best fits the actual behavior of AFV drivers is unknown, however. For insights into refueling behavior, researchers have looked to two studies from 1983 and 1984. Given the paucity of AFVs on the road at that time, these studies used diesel drivers as a proxy for the refueling patterns that early AFV drivers might exhibit given the relative scarcity of alternative-fuel stations. Patterns of refueling stations for contemporary alternate-fuel drivers are much sparser than the diesel-fuel networks of the 1980s, so new models are needed that are better suited to current conditions. This research project will survey drivers about their refueling patterns and behaviors to better understand the assumptions underlying the deployment of new stations. Drivers will be interviewed at stations while they refuel. The survey will ask for the geographic details of their current trip. Socioeconomic and demographic data will be gathered and drivers will be asked whether they detoured from their desired route, why they chose this station, and other questions. To investigate the effects of station site and situation, a number of AFV stations and a control group of gasoline stations will be sampled to represent a variety of geographic settings, including urban, suburban, interstate highways, and arterial streets. Geographic information system-based analyses will be used to measure distances from home, deviations from shortest paths, and geographic characteristics of station-service areas. This project will improve understanding of evolving travel behavior for which past studies do not provide sufficient information or insights. Research conducted nearly 30 years ago will be updated and expanded to examine behaviors of actual alternative-fuel vehicle drivers. The project will contribute to the literatures on detouring behavior, distance decay, retail service areas, and adoption of AFVs, and it provide a much-needed empirical foundation to theoretical models for optimal station location. The project will contribute to wider-ranging efforts to combat global climate change and local air pollution by helping to overcome the foremost barrier to the use of alternate-fuel vehicles, namely the lack of a refueling infrastructure. Understanding where and when drivers refuel will enable industry to locate stations more efficiently. The U.S. will benefit by saving money on stations, increasing adoption of AFVs, reducing dependency on foreign oil, and developing green jobs and clean industries in the U.S.