Evaluating alternative fuels for a bus fleet: An Italian case

A current topic that has surfaced among Public Transport Companies (PTCs) is the selection of alternative fuels for their bus fleets. Both European and Italian regulations are pushing toward abandoning diesel fuel and the consolidation of alternative traction power sources, such as battery-electric vehicles, fuel-cell electric vehicles, and hydrogen-electric vehicles. The literature has provided some approaches toward assessing this selection such as multicriteria-decision-methods in some countries in the world. However, not enough specific attention has been paid to cost criteria, experts involved, and the type of service required. This paper intends to address these gaps by applying an integrated method, which includes: (i) the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to define the weights of criteria; (ii) the ELimination Et Choix Traduisant la REalitè I (ELECTRE I) to find a good compromise solution among the fuel alternatives and (iii) a simple Weighted Sum Model (WSM) to refine ranking. This integrated method was applied in Italy involving a panel of experts from whom the data was collected. Different fuel alternatives for both urban and interurban services and with and without funding are discussed. The results provide a useful tool supporting PTC policies, which aims to rationalise and prioritise bus fuel alternatives when deciding on fleet renewal.