This paper proposes an optimal real-time energy management strategy targeting at daily operation optimization for a plug in proton exchange membrane fuel cell electric vehicle (PFCEV) for public transportations. A novel real-time optimal energy management strategy based on the determined dynamic programming (DDP) strategy is proposed, namely the DBSD (charge Depleting - Blended - Sustaining - Depleting) strategy. A simulation model is set up to compare the DDP strategy, the DBSD strategy and the CDCS (Charge Depleting and Charge Sustaining) strategies. Compared to the CDCS strategy, the daily operating cost can be reduced by 6.4% with the DBSD strategy, and it can be reduced by 9.5% with the DDP strategy. On-road testing with the DBSD strategy shows that, the daily operation cost is 510.2 Sig. $ (100 km)(-1). The electric energy consumption in pure battery driven mode is about 1.68 kWh km(-1), and the equivalent hydrogen consumption in hybrid driven mode is about 0.14 kg km(-1). Copyright (C) 2012, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.