Assessment of the Economic Efficiency of the Operation of Low-Emission and Zero-Emission Vehicles in Public Transport in the Countries of the Visegrad Group

Transport is one of the key sectors of the European economy. However, the intensive development of transport caused negative effects in the form of an increase in the emission of harmful substances. The particularly dramatic situation took place in the V4 countries. This made it necessary to implement solutions reducing emissions in transport, including passenger transport. Such activities can be implemented in the field of implementation of low-emission and zero-emission vehicles for use. That is why the European Union and the governments of the Visegrad Group countries have developed numerous recommendations, communications, laws, and strategies that order carriers to implement low- and zero-emission mobility. Therefore, transport organizers and communication operators faced the choice of the type of buses. From an economic point of view, each entrepreneur is guided by the economic efficiency of the vehicles used. Hence, the main aim of the article was to conduct an economic evaluation of the operational efficiency of ecological vehicles. As more than 70% of vehicles in use in the European Union are still diesel driven, the economic efficiency assessment was also made for vehicles with traditional diesel drive. To conduct the research, the method of calculating the total cost of ownership of vehicles in operation was used. As a result of the research, it was found that electric buses are the cheapest in the entire period of use (15 years), and then those powered by CNG. On the other hand, the cost of using hydrogen buses is the highest. This is due to the high purchase prices of these vehicles. However, the EU, as well as the governments of individual countries, support enterprises and communication operators, by offering them financing for investments. The impact of the forecasted fuel and energy prices and the planned inflation on operating costs was also examined. In this case, the analyses showed that the forecasted changes in fuel and energy prices, as well as the expected inflation, will significantly affect the costs of vehicle operation and the economic efficiency of using various types of drives. These changes will have a positive impact on the implementation of zero-emission vehicles into exploitation. Based on the analyses, it was found that in 2035 hydrogen buses will have the lowest operating costs.