Modeling Transit Bus Emissions Using MOVES: Comparison of Default Distributions and Embedded Drive Cycles with Local Data
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 143, Issue 10
Abstract
This study focuses on the comparison of operating mode distributions and other assumptions used in the estimation of transit bus emissions with the motor vehicle emission simulator (MOVES). The study area is the city of Montreal, Canada, where a single transit provider operates bus service along 220 routes. For this purpose, instantaneous speeds and passenger ridership data were collected onboard a total of 96 buses during the summer and fall of 2013. The data collection campaign covered eight bus routes in Montreal. The selected routes serve a range of corridor types capturing a variability in land use, road geometry, traffic flow, bus type, and transit service. Ultimately, the authors analyzed data from 3,702 road segments amounting to approximately 975.5 km (606 mi) with bus service. Significant differences between locally derived operating mode distributions and MOVES2014 default distributions were observed. The MOVES distributions assume a significantly larger portion of idling than that obtained from local data. The authors also investigated the drive cycle characteristics of different bus types and observed differences between standard and articulated buses, which are currently unaccounted for by MOVES. The findings illustrate the importance of collecting local bus data when estimating transit emissions.
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Acknowledgments
Special thanks to the students who helped collect onboard bus data: Siddharth Asthana and Waddah Reda. Thanks to the students who assisted in the data processing, Ryan Tack and Abena Addo. This research was supported by federal funding through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and provincial funding through the Fonds de Recherche du Quebec sur la Nature et les Technologies (FRQNT).
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Information
Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 143 • Issue 10 • October 2017
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 22, 2015
Accepted: Feb 22, 2017
Published online: Jul 26, 2017
Published in print: Oct 1, 2017
Discussion open until: Dec 26, 2017
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