Shifts in ridership, satisfaction, and willingness to pay when buses are electrified

Abstract Do citizens value electrification of public transport? Consumer theory predicts that cleaner and quieter services will attract commuters to electric buses as these displace conventional diesel. This response has not been tested, despite the vast investment planned by local governments and school districts worldwide as they decarbonize and tackle local air pollution and traffic gridlock. Here we provide a three-pronged analysis of the empirical demand response to bus electrification. First, ridership increases with the timing, duration, and intensity of a bus line’s electrification. Second, commuters alighting from electric buses report higher satisfaction with noise, fumes, and smell compared with a diesel bus control. Third, residents of a neighborhood exposed to electric buses for over one year are willing to pay US$ 0.085 for an electric relative to a diesel bus ride, which amounts to US$ 20 per resident per year. Consumer welfare gains are $250,000 per electric bus procured, a neglected local demand-side co-benefit in public transit’s energy transition that is comparable to the carbon savings.