Social cost-benefit analysis of different types of buses for sustainable public transportation

The transportation sector holds significant importance within a nation, constituting a considerable share of its total energy consumption. In developing nations, the predominant use of non-renewable energy sources like natural gas and petroleum-based fuels is notably observed in the transportation domain. Both public and private vehicles predominantly operate on fossil fuels, giving rise to concerns such as depleting national energy resources and escalating environmental impacts. Consequently, addressing these challenges calls for a shift towards cleaner and more sustainable transportation options. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to conduct a comprehensive ex-ante social cost-benefit analysis of various types of buses for public transportation. Specifically, the types of buses considered include: (i) solar buses, (ii) electric buses, (iii) hydrogen buses, and (iv) diesel buses. This study investigates the feasibility of each type of bus by determining its overall benefits and costs. The economic, environmental, and social impacts are determined and monetized which are used to calculate the net present values (NPV). The solar bus was found to have a comparatively higher NPV of 79.46 Million PKR which demonstrates that the associated overall benefits are higher as compared to the costs. On the contrary, the hydrogen bus was found to have a comparatively lower NPV of −5.87 Million PKR which depicted that considerably higher costs surpassed its benefits. Finally, an exhaustive sensitivity analysis was performed to investigate the impacts of critical system parameters on the feasibility of the examined buses.