CASCADING IMPACTS OF ELECTRIC BUS CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE NETWORK: THE ROLE OF ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS

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The operationalization of electric buses in transit systems is considered the ultimate solution to eliminating transit-related Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. The Canadian market, in particular, offers unique advantages to materialize the environmental benefits associated with electric buses due to the clean (very low GHG intensity) electricity generation profile. However, from a transit providers perspective, electric buses are often seen as immature technology due to the lack of supporting research. One particular aspect is the lack of research on the cascading impacts of electric bus charging stations. Unlike the traditional diesel-based bus transit operation, electric buses require on-route charging to complete the assigned operational schedule. However, current research focuses only on optimizing the sizing and the spatial distribution of the charging station network. Surprisingly, the cascading impacts and the vulnerability of such critical infrastructure network to disruption has never been researched. In addition, there is a lack of research investigating the role of Energy Storage Systems (ESS) in increasing Battery Electric Buses (BEB) infrastructure system robustness. Together, these are essential to inform the future development of autonomous charging stations and their required performance specifications.This project aims at supporting Canadian industry by developing models for quantifying the cascading impacts of electric bus charging station network under different disruption scenarios. The aim is to answer the what if? question and offer industry and transit providers research-based evidence on the behaviour of the charging infrastructure under disruptive scenarios; targeted and random. The developed models will be applied to a real-world transit network to demonstrate their practical relevance. Overall, the proposed project offers industry, transit providers, and policy-makers clear direction supporting the deployment of electric and autonomous buses and their supporting infrastructure.