Electrification and Automation in Maritime Applications: Employing AI Techniques for Energy Optimization and Efficiency

Magazine article, 2019

The region of Västra Götaland is an area in Western Sweden that has nearly 1.6 million inhabitants. In recent years, the number of trips made by the public transportation system has increased considerably, and everything indicates that it will continue to rise substantially in the coming years. Today, the region faces challenges in managing this expected increase in demand. A description of how public transportation is developing in Västra Götaland is given in the Transport Provision Program; it estimates that the number of journeys made by public transportation will double, a goal that is sought at both the national and local levels. The number of public transportation journeys made in the country would then be roughly 400 million by 2025. In response to this, capacity is expected to increase by 70% and the travel time is projected to decrease by 20-25%. Along with these developments, efforts are being made to transition to a more environmentally friendly means of transportation through the use of alternative fuels, electrification, and an increased level of automated systems (with the additional objective of reducing the number of accidents).