Assessing Effectiveness of Alternative Fuel Vehicle Fleet Replacement in Local Government

Although recent legislation and policy has encouraged the use of alternative fuel vehicles in public fleets, full scale AFV adoption is still a new phenomenon. Past studies have examined select aspects of environmental impacts and purchase behavior for specific types of AFVs, a simultaneous comparison of implementation and effectiveness of different fuel types and engine technologies within a single fleet over time has not been undertaken. This project assesses the implementation and effectiveness of an ongoing mandatory AFV fleet replacement policy in DuPage County Forest Preserve (DCFP) in Illinois, which has adopted a self mandate to entirely replace its fleet with AFVs over a 10 year time span. The project is currently supporting three manuscripts: (1) an examination of the environmental and economic costs and benefits of at the half-way point of the policy implementation; (2) an assessment of the internal knowledge development and learning processes that take place when a public agency is tasked with full scale adoption of new technology; and (3) a study of AFV end user behavior. Findings will provide policy makers with detailed dynamic understanding about the cost, benefits, gains, losses, and lessons learned during the process of fleet replacement.

Co-PIs: Dr. Eric Welch & Dr. Jane Lin