Evaluation of a Plug-In Electric Shuttle to a Rural Community as an Initial Transit Service

The use of fixed route public transportation systems within small to medium sized rural communities has not been considered feasible due to the population density. This research describes an effort to install a fixed route plug-in electric public shuttle bus into a semi-rural town of 20,000 residents. The change adoption and technical integration of this shuttle was examined in terms of route analysis, travel duration, rider capacity of the shuttle, and choice of destinations in and around the town. The analysis of these design variables, within this transportation system, identified the opportunity to apply this town\u27s first public transportation shuttle. The electrical needs of the bus were also considered as a factor, due to its departure from common fossil fuel vehicles. The expected capacity of regions within the transportation area, the traffic infrastructure, and the probable destination points were plotted within the region and assigned a hierarchy. That order defined the criteria for where and how often the bus would need to collect its patrons. As this is the first public transportation service of the area, the data and analysis were collected from estimates of the city\u27s population and notable destinations for the community