Exploring driver's refueling behaviors and tendencies in order to design the hydrogen fueling stations infrastructure (Case Study: Mashhad city

The aim of this paper is to present an optimization model in order to make a strategic plan to develop hydrogen refueling stations in a city when Origin–Destination (OD) data are not available. This model assumes two maximizing the traffic covered by the selected hydrogen refueling stations and minimizing the average distance of the city’s inhabitants to the nearest hydrogen refueling station. As OD data are considered to be unavailable, positioning the stations in the highest traffic zones is avoided by a new constraint that takes into account information on the distribution of existing conventional refueling stations. This model is applied to Mashhad of about 3 thousand square with a population of around 3 million. This application had used the results of a survey on more than 200 drivers on their current refueling preferences, their willingness to use alternative fuel vehicles and their minimum requirements (regarding maximum distance to be traveled to refuel and number of stations in the city) when establishing a network of alternative refueling stations.