Mass Transit magazine features agency profiles, industry trends, management tips and new product information.
Issue link: https://masstransit.epubxp.com/i/420594
NOVEMBER 2014 | MassTransitmag.com | Mass Transit |
29
DOUBLE-DECKER BUSES
Tomas Orberger, business
manager with Siemens Industry,
said the products and components
going into hybrid vehicles are not
new technology. Generators, mo-
tors and inverter drives have been
around for decades in applications
like trains or trolley buses, the
challenge lies in integrating the
technologies to work together in a
hybrid vehicle and to fnd the right
application of the systems in a city
to take full advantage of technology.
When a hybrid bus is put into
service, it can fail to meet expect-
ed fuel savings if not on the proper
route, Orberger said. On the other
hand, the transit agencies have a
desire to deploy its most expensive
asset on any given route. Given the
high cost of a hybrid bus and lower
than expected fuel savings, transit
agencies are reluctant to put them
into service considering the time it
takes to recoup costs.
"Transit agencies receive 80 per-
cent funding for a diesel bus and
90 percent funding for a hybrid bus
from FTA which looks on the frst
look very favorable, however, the to-
tal budget for a feet procurement
is fxed. Comparing $400,000 for
a regular bus to $600,000 for a hy-
brid bus and you're only funding 10
percent more on the initial capital
investment, resulting in 25 percent
fewer vehicles. If the transit agen-
cy decides to go hybrid you have to
drive a lot of miles to make up that
gap in the investment." According
to Orberger, the business case still
can be made if the routes are chosen
correctly and powertrain perfor-
mance lives up to its expectations.
Integration of hybrid systems
into buses present a lot of challenges
given the unique character of tech-
nologies and cities, Orberger said.
Environmental requirements, vi-
brations from roads, potholes, heat,
cold, dust, long operations hours
and many other aspects can have
an impact on the drivetrain system
and cause failure. Te challenge is
not necessarily individual products
that have been applied globally in
equally severe conditions. A simple
mounting of a piece of equipment
can have signifcant implications on
reliability and life expectation.
"I think there's an emphasis
more and more to get all of the
stakeholders engaged even before
the purchase agreement is made,"
Orberger said. "We need to defne
the project goal and look at all of
the common knowledge in the in-
dustry and the specifc customers
to see how we mitigate these is-
sues as a transit authority, as an
OEM provider, as a powertrain
designer and how do we create
this product to be very depend-
able and reliable to provide the
greatest return on investment."
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