Study on the Eligibility of Introducing Hybrid-Drive Buses into the Public Passenger Transport

The article presents the research related to the feasibility of introduction of alternative power source vehicles (hybrid system) into the public passenger transport (PPT) implemented as public service obligation of public passenger transport (PSO_PPT). The study examines and evaluates the existing implementation of 10 lines of PSO_PPT and implements the methods of mathematical calculations of the energy necessary to overcome the driving resistances of vehicles operating on these lines. The applied mathematical methods also include calculations of possible energy savings from implementing regenerative braking and a simulation of the reduction in air pollutant emissions. Furthermore the article presents the development of the experimental methods involving measurement of driving speeds, fuel consumption, altitude differences, number of brake applications as well as the time of braking during the bus ride along one of the observed lines in the pilot region. The results on the observed line were compared with mathematical calculations of the possible amount of energy regeneration. Based on the comparative analysis, we introduced the regeneration factor and used it to correct the previous mathematical calculations of the possible amount of energy regeneration due to braking on the other 9 lines in the selected pilot region. The final analysis has proven the eligibility of such research, which has demonstrated significant effects in energy savings (7 %) and the reduction of emissions (20 %) in the pilot area.