Electric Bus Transit System in Canadian Cities: Adaptive Network Analysis and Optimization Toolkit

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The $6.8 billion Canadian bus transit service represents a fundamental component of Canadian cities. It provides over 2.1 million trips every year and offers mobility and accessibility to over 22 million Canadians. However, the bus transit service contributes to almost 12% of Canada's overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As Canada looks to meet its Paris Agreement commitment, there is an increasing demand for the electrification of bus transit service to reduce transit-related GHG emissions. The electrification of bus transit will also benefit from the clean Canadian electricity generation profile that has, on average, a very low carbon emission intensity of 167 tCO2e/GWh. Therefore, the implementation of electric bus (e-Bus) transit would eliminate approximately 85% of transit-related GHG emissions, substantially enhancing air quality and improving public health.***In this respect, Canadian transit stakeholders are facing unprecedented opportunities to implementing the new technology, yet challenges are inherent. This is mainly because the current bus transit service is designed on the merits of the internal combustion engine, which offers, compared to e-Bus, a significantly different operational profile and energy demand. ***The proposed research program is structured to enable the utilization of e-Buses in the Canadian transit service by developing an adaptive e-Bus system design toolkit. This toolkit will aid the decision-making process of designing, configuring, and operating an e-Bus transit system. The three interrelated focus areas of the proposed research program are developed to address key challenges hindering the utilization of e-Buses. FOCUS AREA I will develop advanced spatiotemporal simulation models for e-Bus operation on a full-transit network. The simulation models will quantify the operational efficiency of the e-Bus at a network-level across various Canadian transit networks. FOCUS AREA II will include the development of optimization models that quantify the optimal e-Bus system-level configuration. In addition, it will involve the quantification of e-Bus system robustness at different transit networks. FOCUS AREA III will aim at developing multivariate data analysis prediction models, which will enable the configuration of the e-Bus system at any transit network. These models will facilitate the development of an adaptive generic e-Bus system design toolkit.***Overall, the profound socio-economic and environmental impacts of bus transit GHG emissions necessitate a paradigm shift towards an e-Bus transit system with zero tailpipe emission. The proposed research program will provide direct and robust decision-support tool for implementing, operating and optimizing an e-Bus transit system in Canadian cities. It will help industries and different levels of government in Canada to advance the utilization of e-Bus in transit.