Multi-criteria Decision-Making Approach for choising e-Bus for Urban Public Transport in the City of Niš

Abstract

Public urban passenger transport is a large consumer of fossil fuels, which contributes to the emission of harmful gases. Although alternative fuels are more environmentally friendly, their widespread use is still challenging even for developed countries, partly due to their higher cost. There is also some resistance to introducing sustainable transport systems due to the perception that it could significantly change the style and quality of life. Today, the bus subsystem of public passenger transport is the most widely used public transport technology. Many European public transport systems rely heavily on buses powered by conventional fossil fuel, are integral to their local fleets in most EU states. For public urban transport to increase its participation in the modal distribution of trips in cities, public transport vehicles must comply with established European standards that define different limits of exhaust gas emissions. Public transportation of passengers by bus plays a significant role in the transport system of the City of Niš as an accessible and acceptable means of transportation. Buses that use electricity as propulsion (e-Bus) are considered the cleanest technologies, producing zero local emissions and having the greatest impact on increasing local air quality. In the paper, a multi-criteria ranking of six electric buses was performed based on four criteria, available on the market of the Republic of Serbia, using MABAC and MOORA methods, while Entropy method was used to calculate the weight coefficients, to select an adequate bus manufacturer for the needs of public passenger transportation in City of Niš.