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Introduction of Electric-Powered Campus Shuttles at Northwestern University

The Transportation & Parking department is looking to transition its current, diesel-powered bus fleet to an electric-powered one. We analyzed the number of buses Northwestern Transportation must purchase to meet the demand and how this fleet size affects route scheduling. For the Campus Loop route, maintaining the current schedule and size of the fleet of one bus is recommended. The current fleet size for the Intercampus route is 10 buses, so we looked at a range of options for this route. There are two different components to our charging solution: depot charging and on-route charging. Every bus, regardless of route, will need to charge overnight using depot charging. The department should purchase one depot charger for every two buses and that they be placed where the buses are parked overnight. The Campus Loop is unique in that it can last its entire route on a single charge, even in cold weather, so it will not need on-route charging. However, the Intercampus Loop will need two on-route charging stations, which we recommend to be placed at Ryan Field and at Ward Building.

 

A full report on this project is available by request to jill.wilson@northwestern.edu.

Team Members: Marco Davis, Herrick Lam, Narmeen Noorullah, Corina Seijas

Advisor:  Prof. Matthew Plumlee