The Union Station bus deck in Washington, D.C. is a loud and smelly place. Municipal and inter-city buses rumble in and out stinking up the semi-enclosed depot with the stench of their combusted diesel engines. However, with the arrival of a lone battery electric bus, all of that is soon to change.
Amidst the new addition of fourteen electric buses to D.C.’s Metro Circulation fleet, many have seen a slight change to the atmosphere of public transportation that is soon to revive the way public buses are seen and run. This new vehicle moves stealthily, with a low whine, and emits no fumes. The arrival of battery powered electric buses in American cities could bring a transformation for the workhorse of mass transit and serve as a technological milestone. As far as mass transit milestones go, there has not been much change to city buses since the entrance of air conditioning.
With an electric motor taking up less space, there leaves more room inside the bus for passengers. Also, the bus seems to accelerate faster than diesel buses and move around the city easier. It is clear to see the environmental benefits this new fleet of electrical buses brings. Joseph Schwieterman, a professor of Public Policy at Depaul University calls the electrification of the American bus fleet “a total game-changer.” Whereas diesel-powered “municipal buses are often iffy with respect to environmental benefits,” battery power will turn bus-riding into a truly green mode. Soon every bus depot will make their cities cleaner and greener with a switch to electric buses.
By making a switch to electric buses, depots will save tremendous amounts of money in the long run. Although, acquisition costs are $200,000 to $300,000 higher for electric buses than diesel buses, maintenance costs and energy costs are lower, leading to a lifetime investment that is cheaper. Furthermore, it checks all the boxes that one would want in terms of the future state of mass transit. The current generation models achieve an eighty percent reduction in miles per gallon compared to the diesel models. And both energy efficiency and battery technologies continuing to improve: the new 40-foot bus can run for more than 1,000 miles on a single charge. All facts show that the new electric bus is a game changer, and there is no going back.
The electric bus is also bringing with it a revamping in transit payment to make it seamless and time efficient for the passengers. The lack of information about fares, bus prices, routes, and travel times are a few big reasons why tourists tend to avoid city buses. A great solution would the installation of payment kiosks at each bus stop. Therefore, the future passenger can pay for the bus ride before the bus arrives. Cutting out the time where each passenger must fumble with crumpled bills and loose change.
The future for mass transit is bright. It will be the first of many changes to our everyday society and reshape the environment and economy.
Work Cited
Schneider, Benjamin, and City Lab. “The Technology That Can Turn the Bus Around.” CityLab, 11 May 2018, www.citylab.com/transportation/2018/05/five-breakthroughs-that-could-make-you-love-the-bus/559832/.
11 comments:
The first thing I thought of when I read about battery electric buses was how much they are going to reduce pollution. The pollution that is produced by regular, diesel fueled buses, as well as other forms of transportation such as cars and trains, is emitted into the atmosphere and is a major cause of global warming. In addition, “Studies have linked pollutants from vehicle exhaust to adverse impacts on nearly every organ system in the body.” With the production of battery operated buses, pollution is likely to decrease tremendously, and, like you have mentioned in your article, this will cause cities to become cleaner.
In the opinions of some individuals, taking the bus as a form of transportation is a nuisance because there seems to never be enough seats and because the bus is so big, it is more difficult and becomes slower for the bus to arrive at its destinations. Since the design of the new buses makes it more compact to fit more people and therefore operates more quickly, people will be more in favor to travel on these buses, which can generate great income and business for the bus companies. This becomes a situation where hopefully everybody obtains satisfaction.
One major problem that the battery-operated buses can experience is how it is controlled when there are certain weather conditions present. If the weather is too cold the battery may freeze and if the weather is too hot the battery may fry. What also makes individuals skeptical about battery electric buses is how many more miles it is able to travel over a bus that is running on fuel. Even with the technological improvements on the batteries of these new buses, “the energy density of batteries remains well below that of gas”.
Even though these battery electric buses are more costly that diesel buses, I agree with you that in the long run, there will be more benefits to having this type of busing. If more cities gravitate toward battery electric buses, they will also begin to experience a more green living environment and efficiently run transportation system.
https://www.ucsusa.org/clean-vehicles/vehicles-air-pollution-and-human-health/cars-trucks-air-pollution
https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2019/01/electric-bus-battery-recharge-new-flyer-byd-proterra-beb/577954/
The switch from gas operated public transportation to battery electric transportation will greatly impact the speed that our climate is changing. Even if these battery electric buses are just used in large cities, an impact will be made. Although public transportation isn’t used as much as it used to be with the rise in popularity of services like Uber and Lyft perhaps people more environmentally conscious will switch to public transportation because of the arrival of the battery electric bus. One of the excuses made when trying to make the way we live on Earth greener is that it is too expensive. This excuse is partially valid, as you mentioned the large acquisition cost, but after a few years these switches pay for themselves. The way to get budgets for these projects passed is to put them into action one by one. Another step in the energy efficient movement is to have a transportation service just like Uber, but only with electric or energy efficient vehicles. The number of cars driving around every day that are Uber or Lyft drivers is a massive amount. If these cars are replaced with more energy efficient ones there is no extra cost and it would have a huge impact on the amount of exhaust going into our atmosphere each day.
The idea of electric buses is great, but there are implications that will delay this transition. Tesla's trucks require a lot of time to charge fully and there are limited amounts of charging stations around. To add onto that, Tesla has its own patented technology that increases the charging speed of their vehicles. Superchargers. Superchargers are a 480 volt charging station. Each Supercharger stall pair has a connector to supply electrical power at up to 120 kW via a direct current connection. These superchargers are exclusive to Tesla vehicles. This new Metro Circulation Fleet challenges Tesla's vehicles and it will not be compatible with Tesla's superchargers. Thus, it will take even longer for these buses to charge. Why did the Union Station bus fund research and development into their own electric bus line rather than co-operate with Tesla's already researched and developed trucks in order to implement Tesla busses for cities? Wouldnt this option save more money and be more versatile? From my understanding, Musk has a goal towards creating a better society and future for humanity through the use of renewable energy and through the development of space research. In addition, batteries degrade over time. What will Union Station buses do with faulty batteries? How much would it cost to replace them? How long would it take to replace them? Tesla already has Gigafactories dedicated for large-scale manufacturing of batteries for its vehicles. This allows their batteries to be less costly than other E-vehicles. Thus, co-operating with Tesla would offer a significant advantage. I believe that D.C's Metro Circulation should consider co-operating with Tesla. Not only that, but all public transportation should co-operate with e-vehicle manufacturers to promote "sustainable" development.
Overall, electric-battery run buses prove to be a better investment in DC's environment for the current state and the future state of the city. These buses are a positive investment in the mass transportation industry as well, which occurs daily in DC. While each bus is $200,000-$300,000 higher than diesel, the maintenance costs and energy costs are lower. This is because electric buses get better gas mileage than a diesel run bus. This fact is of course beneficial to a public bus line which operates inside a busy, heavily populated city on bus routes. With more buses likely to run smoothly over a period of time, and better gas mileage, bus companies who run electric powered buses will develop a greater investment over time through the profits it obtains. Also, if the pattern of electric buses displays better operating patterns, more bus lines are likely to invest in this fairly new technology. Later in your blog you commented on the changes these buses could bring to mass transportation. I do agree that misunderstandings in schedule times and payment causes for groups of people to not participate. When I was abroad in Bangkok, cards with RFID chips were implemented in the sky train and subway systems, and in Hong Kong an Octopus card is used, which works similarly to a debit card. The ability to load money credits onto a card and then hop on proves convenience and an idea so easy that many will participate, and fewer people will use physical cash each time, therefore eliminating cashier needs. Also, with electric buses providing more seats than diesel-powered buses, more commuters can be included, and hopefully this will lessen the stress of a commute that is very crowded on a public bus.
I have greatly enjoyed reading your article and have always been fascinated by electric vehicles and how they will be part of our future. I am a major supporter of electric transportation because like you stated they are better for the environment and are cheaper to run once they are purchased. After all these positive facts that you stated, I was curious why electric buses are not more common across the United States. When researching electric buses, I found some problems or possible problems with them that I hope can be figured out so that electric bus use will rise in the United States.
The first problem I found was that these buses have limited range due to the fact that the battery charge cannot last for usually more than 100 miles. While most city buses do not travel more than 100 miles in a trip it would be difficult for a bus to have to constantly stop and charge. Charging leads to our next issue, which is that it can take a while to charge a large battery such as this and it would require a special charging station. This could be a major reason why these buses are not more popular in major cities. In order for cities to have bus fleets consisting of electric buses, the city would have to build infrastructure that could support these buses, which could prove to be very expensive. Not only would it be expensive to build structures to support these buses but the buses themselves are already very expensive, as you state in your article. While in the long run the buses would be cheaper, many American cities are strapped for cash already and this upfront cost could be too much.
While these are all issues at the moment with electric buses both scientists and engineers are trying to find ways to fix these issues. Some electric batters are starting to self-charge as the batteries are being used greatly increasing their battery life. Another hope for electric buses would be the rise in electric vehicles in cities. Since electric cars are on the rise, there will be infrastructure for electric charging for cars and hopefully bus companies would be able to piggy back on the infrastructure for electric cars.
I agree that electrification of public transport will be a massive step towards the greening of cities in the future. Washington D.C. recently announced it will be targeting 2030 as the year to be a fully renewably powered city. This will surely be a massive infrastructure project, and electric busses will be a great spearhead of the project; aiding visibility and awareness as pollution and costs are reduced during operation. The municipal transit space is ripe for disruption, but these projects are often prohibitively expensive. Electric busses provide a measurable costs savings without having to reinvent the wheel.
In addition, an electric powertrain is a vastly superior propulsion system to combustion in a city environment. The busses will be significantly faster in the range of speed that matters, as well as quieter and likely more advanced. Reworking bus transportation to be more intuitive and advanced is extremely important in the age of ride-sharing apps and the ease of which they whisk you from point A to B. If the IT side of bus travel can be comparable to that of Uber and Lyft, with real time price quotes and route info so you know and can plan ahead for pickup, drop off and travel time.
The importance of cleaner mass transit cannot be overstated. Pollution in cities is a major health hazard to full time inhabitants over the long term, especially in more developed areas with high-rises and less fresh air. A future of cities full of quiet, non-combustion vehicles sounds too good to be true. That may be exactly where we are headed.
I think the creation of the battery electric bus is the right step in the right direction. There are electric cars that have already been made and now that they're making electric buses is a great idea. The world is rapidly urbanizing and particulate pollution especially from diesel. Old buses drive slowly throughout the city all day spewing diesel smoke. The air quality will quickly improve which is a great thing for the economy. Who cares if the acquisition costs are $200,000 to $300,000 higher for electric buses, like Ryan said, the maintenance and energy cost are lower. The short term does matter but the long term matters more. We will be able to improve cities all over the world with these buses. Washington D.C. won't be known as a loud and smelly place. What really caught my eye was when Ryan explained that the electric engine takes up less room so that will make more room for seats which means more passengers. Maybe that will lead to less buses that need to go around because each one has more room than older buses. Over the next couple of years I think there will be some electric buses and soon they will take over all the diesel buses to make the economy a better place.
Electric vehicles are becoming the future for personal transportation and now for transitioning into the mass transportation channel. For example, Daimler, the manufacturer of Mercedes Benz is becoming one of the first companies to take a stance to create eco-friendly vehicles, much like the Battery Electric busses circulating within the D.C metro area. This new type of technology created by Daimler is launching right now in a few cities in Germany and is becoming the new look and change for public transportation in Europe. Germany for instance has very high environmental standards which should be the model for other countries in the world. This type of technology can be very beneficial to the planet which is great that these vehicle manufacturers and countries are making these investments in order to produce this type of beneficial technology.
It is great to see that the United States is also investing into electric vehicles due to the benefits it produces for the environment. Ryan also made great points about how electric vehicle motors take up less space leaving more room inside the bus for passengers. For large populated cities this is a great advantage due to the current problem mass transportation has with always being for crammed. Using electric mass transportation may also cause more people to stop using their personal vehicles and start using mass transportation because it is more appealing and easier for them to use now that it is a more comfortable to use. In addition, as Ryan stated, using this type of vehicle is a much cheaper solution for cities due to the lower maintenance costs and energy cost. As we can see this type of technology can cause a positive domino effect for the cities, states and countries who choose to use this method of transportation as well as for the environment as a whole.
With so much pollution in the air, the implementation of electric buses is good for reducing the level of fumes in the air. I take the bus to and from school for breaks and I can tell you that many of the buses are not spacious enough for passengers. With an electric motor that allows for more interior space, passengers will be able to ride the bus without being uncomfortable for the duration of their trip. This extra space is a great thing and I feel that they should implement electric motors in buses that travel long distances, such as the bolt bus because being squished for a couple hours is not enjoyable. This may be tough because an electric motor may not be able to handle traveling long distances. Perhaps they can create a type of hybrid bus that can use electricity as its main source of energy while still having the ability to run on gas. It seems that the money spent for electric motors will pay off in the long run which is also a good thing for city bus companies in D.C. The kiosk payment stations will provide more efficiency for both passengers and bus drivers allowing for a shorter travel time and less confusion about bus payments for tourist.
Electric buses are definitely a move in the right direction. Similarly to DC, Portland just released its first all-electric bus that is powered by wind energy on April 19th, 2019. They will have 5 buses working the same route to test it out before the entire city switches from gas run buses to electric buses, which is a smaller amount compared to DC’s 14 new electric buses. Portland will use the 5 buses to evaluate performance, cost, and reliability to determine whether or not they should accelerate our transition, test other technologies, or go back to combustion engined buses. It is undeniable that the projected results will be worth the investment. Because of this, TriMet and Portland General Electric of Portland has said that they hope to pursue a journey of transitioning to all non-diesel buses in the next 20 years.
Sure, acquisition costs will cost significantly more by $200,000 to $300,000, but like Ryan mentioned, this is an investment that will save money in the long run. In DC, they have calculated that maintenance costs and energy costs are lower, leading to a lifetime investment that is cheaper. I’m sure the situation is similar in Portland. As mentioned by Ryan, current generation models achieve an eighty percent reduction in miles per gallon compared to the diesel models. And both energy efficiency and battery technologies continuing to improve: the new 40-foot bus can run for more than 1,000 miles on a single charge.
DC and Portland are just a few cities that are leading the example. It is great to see this being done and hopefully, other cities will use them as trials to see if it is worth the cost of transitioning. To sum it up, this transition will make public transportation more cost efficient in the long run, provides a more comfortable ride for consumers, and is better for the environment.
www.citylab.com/transportation/2018/05/five-breakthroughs-that-could-make-you-love-the-bus/559832/.
https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2019/04/16/26331751/trimet-introduces-portlands-first-electric-bus
I believe that switching buses from gas to electric will have both positive and negative effects in society. One of the strongest reasons why it would be positive is because of the impact it would have on the environment. Right now, gas buses run continuously each day of the week because people need to get from where they live to work, school or various other places. The problem with this is the effect it has on our environment. Buses require a large amount of gas because they have big tanks, so they can stay on the road longer to drive around as many people as possible. This obviously hurts our environment, just as cars do, because of the pollution they emit. Electric buses will be much more environmentally friendly. Another positive for using electric buses is the fact that due to the design, more people will be able to ride. Buses right now are pretty big, but in cities that have a large population or during rush hour times, the space inside will fill up very quickly. Switching to electric buses will not only be beneficial for riders because they will know there is more room on each bus, but it will also be beneficial for the depots because they will make more money due to more people being able to get on. There are some negatives however. One negative that comes to mind is the charging of the battery. Electric cars have had trouble in the past charging its batteries efficiently and now the battery in the bus is much bigger. Buses have schedules and people depend on them to get around so due to the long time it takes to recharge, buses will have to find quicker ways to recharge in the future. Another negative for the battery in electric buses is how it preforms in the more intense seasons. During the winter, the performance of the battery could suffer and during the summer, the battery has the ability to overheat. Although these are negatives right now, they have the possibility of going away in the future due to new technology.
Post a Comment