Optimal Planning for On-Route Charging of Battery Electric Buses in Public Transit Networks

Battery electric buses (BEBs) are renowned for their eco-friendly transportation capabilities. Compared to diesel counterparts, they are cost-effective, particularly when BEBs are charged efficiently. This paper introduces a three-step planning approach to determine the minimum number of on-route charging terminals required within a transit network. It also focuses on effectively assigning transit network activity blocks to the identified chargers to achieve maximum BEBs charging opportunity and balancing energy consumption among the charging terminals. The model is evaluated using the actual transit network data of the city of Thunder Bay.