Objective
The project has as its objective the reduction of energy consumption of public transport systems, which contribute substantially to environmental damage in cities. It specific goal is the testing of the following aspects : electronic control systems for buses and trams; advanced hybrid systems; innovative diesel engines; biofuels; sophisticated batteries for application in electric vehicles; electrostatic mufflers; fleet energy and maintenance management; multiomodal operations; including information systems for users.
The following activities were carried out within the design phase :
- planning of the interventions and detailed description of the Project activities;
- analysis of the urban layout, with reference to road circulation and environment;
- identification of the public transport lines on which to intervene, predisposition of the conditions needed to maximise the results of the experiment and specification of the typology of the hybrid buses to be used for the experiment;
- specification of the monitoring system to be installed on the buses and on ground for the monitoring of the results of the experiment;
- definition of the evaluation methodology.
- definition of the dissemination activities operational plan.
The frist three hybrid buses were delivered to the ATC between January and March 1998. The manufacture of the remaining buses is still in progress.
The new buses have been tested on the chosen lines of the public transport network of Terni in different conditions. The buses will be put into service by the end of May.
Until now, one of the hybrid buses has been equipped with the on-vehicle measurement sensors. Those sensors are able to monitor and to record : rpm of the internal combustion engine, generator tension, current produced by the generator, battery tension, battery current input/output, current recuperated in bracking, electric engine tension input, electric engine current input, speed, acceleration, battery temperature, ambient temperature; besides four pressure sensors have been installed on the suspension to estimate vehicle load. Some measurements have already been taken with the portable recording system, using the bus in simulated service.
Also two conventional buses have already been equipped with the on-vehicle measurement instruments, in order to compare the performances of different buses. Other two hybrid buses will be equipped with the measurement devices.
The project consists of differentiated testing in a single area of low environmental-impact buses in relation to the urban environment, public transport users, management of public transport company and the efficiency and energy-effectiveness of the entire system. It is proposed to experiment with the use of hybrid buses of new conception with reduced noxious emissions and energy consumption, together with traditional buses using biofuels and traditional buses equipped with electostatic mufflers, integrated into a system of automated management, capable of improving performances further and making available a number of elements (automated car parks, information systems for users, etc.) that should make public transport more appealing and ultimately discourage the use of private transport in the entire urban area;
The project intends to monitor the differential effect on four subsystems (the physical urban environment, the social environment, the energy budget, the public transport agency's budget) of traffic policies (reserved lanes, park-and-ride, and real-time user-friendly information) and the introduction of a substantial number of innovative buses (hybrid and biodiesel) into the public transport fleet. The identification and optimisation of reserved lanes and Park and Ride will be accomplished through the existing REGIT system, which integrates the Urban Traffic Control System (UTC), Automatic Vehicle Location and Monitoring System (AVL-AVM), Environmental and Pollution Monitoring System and Variable Message Signs, making possible an innovative management of urban mobility.
The advanced on-bus equipment will make it possible, moreover, to evaluate in a real-life context the advantages in terms of energy saving and pollution reduction. Several functions of the REGIT system will be used in the context of the project: the management of car parks; user information systems; a further improvement of priority to buses at traffic light intersections.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringcontrol systems
- social sciencessocial geographytransportelectric vehicles
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors
- social sciencessocial geographytransportpublic transport
- engineering and technologyindustrial biotechnologybiomaterialsbiofuels
You need to log in or register to use this function
Topic(s)
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
DEM - Demonstration contractsCoordinator
05100 Terni
Italy