Bus driving behaviour and fuel consumption

Abstract

The behaviour of driver is influenced by many factors, which include the personal characteristics (attitude, experience etc.) environmental (road geometry, traffic control etc.) and vehicle characteristics (performance, load etc.). Professional drivers, such as bus drivers, generally have higher levels of training and experience, and by virtue of their profession have attitudes, which are more likely to promote with save driving. However bus drivers experience the same environmental traffic condition as other drives, as well as additional constraints imposed by the vehicle characteristics, concern for passenger comfort/safety and the need to adhere to timetables. This research is focussed on understanding the behaviour differences both between and within bus drivers leaving from different types of stops. Understanding such differences will enable approaches to be developed to modifying behaviour so as to improve fuel consumption. A substantial database was collected with the cooperation of the UniLink bus operation in Southampton. The database consisted of detailed knowledge of bus location, instantaneous speed (reflecting the combination of behaviour and vehicle control), acceleration, accelerator pedal position(reflecting driver behaviour) and fuel consumption records. The data was gathered using a Portable Vehicle CANBus System (PVCS) combined with GLOBAL positioning System (GPS) on 2 buses. This research adopted advanced technology to mount the instantaneous accelerator pedal control of the driver, acceleration and fuel consumption. The devices used in this study provide a transferable methodology for the appraisal of fuel consumption saving through changes in acceleration behaviour (within 10 seconds leaving from stationary). The finding of this study revealed that the bus fuel consumption is sensitive to the level of acceleration. In the situation studied, the fuel consumption increased 67% for acceleration increase in the range 0.5 ms-2 to 1.5 ms-2 when leaving from stationary. More than 50 ml fuel is saved per acceleration within 10 second leaving from stationary if the driver reduces the rate of acceleration. Shifting driving behaviour from aggressive toward normal driving or from normal to economic save more than 20% or 40% fuel consumption respectively. However, the driving behaviour of the bus was influenced by factors such environment, passenger on board, and road condition that influences bus ability to accelerate and hence affect fuel consumption.

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