Tire‐Wear Characteristics of Public Buses

Abstract

This paper describes a study that examines tire‐wear characteristics of a fleet of public buses under actual operating conditions. A sampling experiment is first performed to determine the number of tread‐depth measurements required for each tire. A sample size of 12 is found to be adequate. Tread wear of 144 tires is measured and analyzed statistically. Emphasis is placed on identifying bus operating parameters that are within bus operators' control, to achieve optimal tire use. Two sets of regression models are developed to describe tire‐wear characteristics of the bus fleet. The first set of models is expressed in terms of indicator variables representing service routes and bus models, while the second set consists of quantitative parameters representative of tire, vehicle, and service characteristics of the buses. The effects of individual parameters are established statistically. The results show that tire and service parameters have a great influence on tire‐wear characteristics of the buses.