Sustainability Assessment of Public Transport, Part I—A Multi-Criteria Assessment Method to Compare Different Bus Technologies

Jonas Ammenberg,Sofia Dahlgren

doi:10.3390/su13020825

Abstract

This article departs from the perspective of Swedish regional transport authorities and focuses on the public procurement of bus transports. Many of these public organizations on the county level have the ambition to contribute to a transition involving the continued marginalization of fossil fuels and improved sustainability performance. However, there are several renewable bus technologies to choose between and it can be difficult to know what alternative (or combination) is preferable. Prior research and the authors’ experiences indicate a need for improved knowledge and supportive methods on how sustainability assessments can support public procurement processes. The purpose of this article is to develop a multi-criteria assessment (MCA) method to support assessments of public bus technologies’ sustainability. The method, which was established in an iterative and participatory process, consists of four key areas and 12 indicators. The article introduces the problem context and reviews selected prior research of relevance dealing with green or sustainable public procurement and sustainability assessments. Further on, the process and MCA method are presented and discussed based on advice for effective and efficient sustainability assessments. In the companion article (Part II), the MCA method is applied to assess several bus technologies involving biodiesel, biomethane, diesel, electricity, ethanol and natural gas.

Highlights

Iterative, with different actors being involved throughout the process. It was initiated in 2017 by the authors, who created a first version of the multi-criteria assessment (MCA) method in the form of a presentation dealing with key areas, key questions and indicators to possibly include. This was done based on previous MCA method establishment experiences [54,62,85], an initial literature review of other studies dealing with assessments of bus technologies and discussions
Assuming similar weight and speed for the assessed bus technologies, we have focused on noise from the vehicle, that is, excluded noise from tires or roads in the MCA method
There is a demand for modern, well-functioning and cost-effective technologies with superior environmental or sustainability performance to reduce climate impact, air pollution, resource depletion and other urgent challenges

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Transportation systems are linked to essential environmental, health and resource challenges [1] and many organizations take actions for improved sustainability performance, for example, References [2,3,4]. A rapid transition is needed to reach objectives such as those regarding renewable energy, climate impact, air quality, for example, in the EU and countries like Sweden [5,6,7,8]. For many different types of transportation, there is a wide array of possible alternative technologies involving, for example, biodiesel, biomethane, electricity and ethanol [9,10,11]

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Conclusion