BSeT: A Heavy-Duty Transit Bus Size Decision Support Tool

摘要

Transit managers continue to strive for greater operating efficiency whilemaintaining an appropriate balance between cost effectiveness and customerservice. Over the past decade, the use of heavy-duty buses smaller than thetraditional forty-foot variety has expanded for several reasons. In somecases, smaller buses are perceived to cost less to acquire, maintain, andoperate. Smaller buses may also be required to accommodate routemaneuverability constraints, residential and commercial growth patterns, andoff-peak empty bus syndrome. However, the availability of prior studiesthat considered the effectiveness of small buses has been limited.The objective of this research project was to develop a decision support toolto assist transit agencies with evaluating heavy-duty bus fleets and makingvehicle acquisition and deployment choices. The product of this effort, theBus Size Evaluation Tool (BSeT), is a user-friendly and easily-modifiablecomputer application designed within Microsoft Excel. Building off priorstudies and earlier investigations that laid the groundwork for this research,BSeT was designed around a life-cycle cost calculator and a template ofweighted factors to help transit agencies select buses that are best suited tosatisfy their service obligations. The following research paper describes theresearch effort, details the process of developing the decision support tool,and offers guidelines for utilizing BSeT. It is important to note that theoutcome of this project is not intended as a fleet optimization tool.