Measurements and analysis of real-world driving behavior of urban buses

The present paper contains an analysis of driving behavior measurements of urban buses. The following parameters were measured and logged on a second-by-second basis: engine torque and speed, bus velocity, road gradient, number of passengers in the bus, coolant and oil temperatures and on/off switching of the air conditioning system. For part of the experiments, exhaust gas temperature and braking system activation were also recorded at the same frequency. Average driving behavior parameters, such as maximal and average bus velocities, accelerations, decelerations, relative time of stops, etc., were derived for various bus routes, as well as for available driving cycles, and an appropriate comparative analysis was performed. Based on the gained data, the effects of road gradient and air conditioning operation on engine power demand were evaluated. Keys-words: urban bus, driving behavior, power demand, road gradient, air conditioning.