Abstract

Although it is widely recognized that fleets are critical to the growth of alternative fuel technologies, survey data needed to develop fleet demand models have been generally unavailable prior to 1994, due to the difficulty of establishing a representative sample of both business and government organizations with fleet operations. The current study provides results from a large, broad-based sample of fleet sites in California, part of a broader project to develop an integrated vehicle demand forecasting system for both households and fleets (Brownstone, et al., 1994). The 1994 California Fleet Site Survey was based on a comprehensive sample derived from motor-vehicle registration records, and a survey response rate in excess of 70% was obtained.

Initial results from the 1994 California Fleet Site Survey are explored In this paper. The paper is organized as follows: Previous research is discussed in Section 2, followed by a description of the survey in Section 3. Fleet site characteristics are explored in Section 4. Vehicle utilization is analyzed in Section 5, and the effects of fleet operators’ awareness of clean fuel mandates is explored in Section 6. Nearterm AFV purchase intention is examined in Section 7. A model of vehicle choice is presented in Section 8 to provide insights into the attribute tradeoffs that fleet managers are likely to exhibit when making future vehicle acquisitions in the presence of AFV’s. Finally, the conclusions drawn to date are reported in Section 9.