Local Public Transport Operative Total Cost of Ownership Analysis in Relation to the Technology Transition Phase

Due to the current decarbonization process of local public transport (LPT) and the technological and energy transition phase, LPT companies assume a key role in replacing obsolete and polluting vehicles with new and less impactful ones. In this context, costs are generally assessed by referring to the total cost of ownership (TCO), the procedure of which examines business expenses related to the purchase, use, and disposal of vehicles and subservient infrastructure. The objective of the paper is to propose and develop a novel analysis procedure based on an operating TCO (OTCO) that considers extra costs derived from empirical evidence and field experience of LPT companies. As a case study, data collected through the monitoring of an Italian LPT company fleet are used to calculate the TCO and OTCO in order to analyze and compare different vehicular motorizations, such as diesel, compressed natural gas, and battery electric.