[sustran] Re: Comparative analysis of buses

[Todd Alexander Litman]

See, "Evaluating Public Transit Benefits and Costs" 
(http://www.vtpi.org/tranben.pdf ) and "Rail Transit In America: 
Comprehensive Evaluation of Benefits (http://www.vtpi.org/railben.pdf 
), which discuss various factors to consider when evaluating and 
comparing public transit services. Public transit provides basic 
mobility for non-drivers, and to the degree that it substitutes for 
automobile travel, it also reduces traffic congestion, parking 
facility costs, consumer costs, accidents, energy consumption, 
pollution emissions and sprawl, all benefits that should be 
considered in your analysis.

In addition, since public transit travel is concentrated in dense 
urban areas where congestion, pollution and parking costs tend to be 
particularly intense, and each transit vehicle is driven high annual 
kilometers, reductions in their external costs (air and noise 
pollution, accident risk, etc.) can provide relatively large 
benefits. For example, shifting from current diesel buses to cleaner 
diesel or alternative fuels such as CNG, may be one of the most cost 
effective ways of reducing urban air pollution. Similarly, creating 
urban busways and HOV facilities (http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm19.htm ) 
may be one of the most cost effective ways of improving urban 
transportation because it prevents buses from being stuck in traffic 
congestion, improving their performace, reducing their emissions per 
vehicle-kilometer, and making public transit more attractive to 
people who would otherwise drive.


Best wishes,
-Todd Litman



At 09:02 PM 24/08/2008, H Ghazali wrote:
>Friends,
>
>I am trying to put together a comparative analysis on the costs and
>benefits of buses in order to provide more informed policy options to
>the government. Is there any available information out there on the
>difference in social, economic and environmental costs and benefits of
>a diesel bus, a CNG bus, and an electric bus?
>
>I would especially appreciate it if someone from Kathmandu, Nepal
>could comment on the electric buses running there?
>
>Best regards,
>
>Hassaan Ghazali
>
>--
>Institutional Development Specialist
>Urban Sector Policy and Management Unit (The Urban Unit)
>Planning & Development Department,
>Government of the Punjab
>
>A: 4-B Lytton Road, Lahore, Pakistan
>T: 9213579-84 (Ext.116)
>F: 9213585
>M: 0345 455 6016
>Skype: halgazel
>http://hghazali.googlepages.com
>
>*When conditions are right, everything will go wrong*
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