Impact Measurement

Every once in a while, we come across new research that reinforces our mission as at LifeCity so powerfully, we can’t help but share it with the world. Today, we’d like to lift the hood on new impact modeling that casts fresh light on an important issue currently subject to debate in city halls across the country—electric bus fleets.

As municipalities consider new investments to upgrade their aging transportation infrastructure, many are calling for officials to transition away from conventional diesel buses and begin purchasing quieter, more ecofriendly battery-powered electric (BEB) alternatives. Over the last 5 years, the cost of BEB buses has plummeted alongside advances in battery technology, yet the purchase price of popular new 40-foot BEB buses is often still nearly twice that of comparable diesel buses. For many city officials, electric appears cost-prohibitive, and consequently, this is where the discussion ends.

Yet as recent research from engineering faculty at UT Austin and McMaster University demonstrates, contrasting the upfront purchase cost between diesel and electric buses is a fatally incomplete basis for prudent cost-benefit decision-making. The public health benefits alone of eliminating a single diesel buses’ local emissions in Chicago, for example, has been estimated to be $55,000 per year, due to lower incidence of respiratory illness. “Over the 12-year life of a bus, this implies $660,000 in human health savings per bus (without discounting),” explain the authors. “Including this social cost savings suggests that each BEB may provide closer to a net benefit of $700,686 or $600,687 over a 12-year lifespan, assuming $300,000 and $400,000 diesel-bus purchase prices, respectively.” In effect, a battery-powered electric bus in a dense urban environment may pay for itself in under five years.

As this study demonstrates, tracking impact comprehensively, rather than through a single incomplete financial lens, can change the calculus of how we should best invest our collective dollars and resources as a society. Impact management has real world implications for policymakers, investors, business executives, and every concerned citizen.