The aim of the article is to compare the operational efficiency of the city buses in various stages of their operational life. Technical readiness tests, repair costs and revenues during the six years of operation were conducted using two popular bus makes as an example (domestic and imported). Based on these tests, the characteristics of the operational efficiency of buses was determined. It has been shown that the service life has a significant effect on the operational efficiency. The division of the total operational period of the vehicle into the warranty and post-warranty period was considered and a new division was introduced, of the „period of full operational usefulness” and “period of limited operational usefulness”. This new division of service life into stages makes it possible to determine the most reasonable limit of the vehicle usage until it is taken out of service. It can also be used when choosing a vehicle make as part of a fleet renewal or extension program.

The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of the categories of bus downtime caused by the necessity of their repair on the availability indicator. A retrospective study covering 12 years of bus operation was carried using the selected municipal transport company as an example. The share of the selected categories of downtime in the total time of vehicle downtime was analyzed. The Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was used for the analysis. The research covered seven makes and types of buses and six categories of downtime. A ranking of the downtime categories was developed according to the criterion of the statistical dispersion of stoppage time as a measure of their unpredictability. It was shown that categorized unavailability was strongly dependent on the rank of downtime and loosely dependent on the age of buses. In practical applications, the test results may be useful in improving the fleet maintenance processes, selecting the make of new buses or development of models for safety margin availability.

When a trolleybus travels through insulated sections of the overhead contact line, it experiences momentary power interruptions, which adversely affect the vehicle’s on-board auxiliary subassemblies. To reduce these negative effects, one can harness energy recovered via regenerative braking. A model power supply circuit diagram for structural systems of the trolleybus is proposed. Simulation tests were carried out to develop a method for analyzing power supply to trolleybus auxiliary devices and verify it in a real-life example. The results allow determination of the limit power that can be generated by the trolleybus drive system to feed auxiliary devices during interruptions in power supply from the overhead contact line. The possibility of powering the on-board auxiliary equipment of a trolleybus using energy from recuperation with a traction motor is presented.

This study deals with the assessment of the progress of the electromobility programme with regard to the technical availability of public transport buses. The aim of this study was to conduct a comparative assessment of the availability of electric buses in relation to diesel buses (of analogous capacity). The study was carried out in real operating conditions using the example of Lublin city. Over a period of 33 months, the availability of electric buses and diesel buses was tested in a sample of 18 vehicles for each type of bus. Availability indices were compared using the method of variance analysis. It was found that electric buses had a higher level of availability and no trend during the study period. The applied research method can be used in operational practice to monitor the risks associated with vehicle failure rates and the continuity of fleet operations.

The paper presents a proposed methodology for designing and planning research on driver behavior at pedestrian crossings using whole-vehicle simulators. It was assumed that dedicated research should be conducted in specific problem contexts. The problems identified were the identification of hazards and the risk of accidents involving vulnerable road users. The purpose of this identification is to determine the determinants of safety at pedestrian crossings, which should constitute guidance when designing new solutions for safety support systems at pedestrian crossings. A number of hazard factors were identified; divided into categories, including types of crossings, location, and surroundings; behavior of vulnerable road users; and attention (focus) distractors, both inside and outside the vehicle. A method for defining and selecting research scenarios and selecting a group of research participants was proposed. Additionally, it was proposed to conduct repeatable test scenarios for different driving speeds and different weather conditions. With respect to the publications on this topic, this work focuses on the process of designing and planning dedicated simulation studies, which may provide a source of guidance and good practices for other researchers. This is an example of how interdisciplinary research involving human factors, traffic organization, and ITS systems can be planned and implemented.

The process involved in preparing driving simulator tests is a labor intensive one, and the nature of this complexity depends on the sophistication of the tests to be carried out, as well as the number of participants. Which has an impact on the duration of the research itself. The very solution of using driving simulators is a research tool that has been in use for many years and with great success. They are used in a very wide range of areas of human functioning. They replicate in a very realistic way the conditions that can occur in the external environment, offer the possibility of repetition of particular conditions and insight into certain behaviors that could be very difficult to initiate in real life. This article also describes the dis- ease of using simulators to conduct research activities, along with the workflow from assumptions to finalizing the research. An algorithm is also presented for the study of individual participants, with examples for separate research scenarios concerning driver behavior in the vicinity of pedestrian crossings.