Moataz Mohamed, Assistant Professor at McMaster University, presented his research on “the electrification of Canadian urban bus transit” at the UT-ITE seminar on October 5, 2018.
Professor Mohamed reviewed six different powertrains for buses based on
- operation
- Green House Gas (GHG) emission
- the total cost of ownership, and
- energy consumption.
He found that hybrid, CNG, and clean diesel powertrains will not achieve a substantial reduction in GHG emissions.
The environmental advantages of electric buses depends on the volume of GHG emission in electricity generation. Electric buses that are powered by renewable/clean electricity result in zero net emission. He also found that electric buses are feasible for operation, despite the high capital cost.
In Canada, the bus transit system delivers services to more than 23 million residents via 185 transit providers. However, the market share of electric buses is almost zero, despite all the advantages. Professor Mohamed investigated the critical question of hindrances to the adoption of electric buses in Canadian transit.
Professor Mohammad found that electric buses could be operationalized in the transit context. He also discovered that limited political supports for electrification of bus transit is one of the main obstacles in adopting this technology. Transit providers are very concerned about being the first provider to utilize this technology.
Professor Mohamed believes that small and medium fixed-route networks are ideal for a full network electric bus trails.
Electrification of buses will inevitably increase fleet size; higher fleet size results in recruiting higher number of drivers; all of which significantly increases the cost of operation. This issue can be solved by the introduction of autonomous buses which are operating without drivers. For the short term, electric buses should be introduced in a relatively less demanding context. In contrast, coupling electric buses with autonomous technology will create a paradigm shift in transit and mobility for long-term.
These are just a few points regarding Professor Mohamed’s talk. For more information, please view the presentation slides provided by Professor Mohamed.
Abstract
Dr. Mohamed’s research focuses on the systemic evaluation of transportation networks to achieve sustainable and resilient transportation systems. He is a strong believer of zero-emission, sustainable, resilient transit systems that support the rise of smart communities. His research focuses on the utilization of disruptive technologies in public transit networks with emphasis on electric and autonomous technologies. In particular, he investigates the operational efficiency of disruptive technologies in public transit networks with emphasis on; operational reliability, environmental assessment, and total cost of ownership. His research also investigates the systemic impacts of the transit system on utility grid and energy demand.
Short Biography
Dr. Moataz Mohamed graduated from the Faculty of Engineering, Assiut University Egypt in 2004. He was awarded his Master’s degree from the University of Rome, La Sapienza in 2007, and his PhD degree from the University of Ulster, United Kingdom in 2012. Dr. Mohamed has been a member of the McMaster community since 2014 as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the McMaster Institute for Transportation and Logistics (MITL).
Dr. Mohamed was honoured with prestigious academic awards including the Runner-Up Smeed Prize for the best paper at the 44th Universities’ Transport Study Group Conference (UTSG), Best Paper Award at the 3rd Irish Transport Research Network Conference (ITRN), and Best Paper Award by a young researcher at the 13th World Conference on Transport Research (WCTR).