SEAS THE DAY
Smooth Sailing: A Data-Driven Approach to Ferry Scheduling Optimization
Project Collaborators
Introduction: Setting Sail
Färjerederiet is a vital part of Sweden’s maritime transportation, connecting communities and supporting regional mobility with its fleet of yellow ferries. To align with the Vision 45 climate neutrality goals, there is a need to optimize fleet management, fuel efficiency, and scheduling. To aid in this endeavour RI.SE, Cetasol and Färjerederiet hosted a hackathon to bring attention to the matter and generate potential solutions. Our submission explores a scheduling optimization algorithm using ferry movement data from the PONTOS Hub to support sustainable fleet operations.
The State of the Tide
From a brief analysis of the data we identified the following areas that had promising room for improvements.
- Zero load trips (ferries running without passengers or vehicles).
- More trips than demand requires.
- Under-utilized carrying capacity, with peak loads rarely above 80%.
These inefficiencies increase CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption due to unnecessary trips. Reducing the number of trips while matching demand is key to lowering emissions.
Fleet Flow Optimization
We then developed a scheduling algorithm that generates optimized weekly ferry schedules based on the inbound and outbound traffic data. It adjusted frequencies for peak and off-peak periods, balancing customer convenience with operational efficiency.
The algorithm accounts for ferry capacity, round-trip times, and loading durations to ensure feasible timetables. It adapts to different ferry routes, creating independent schedules saved as CSV files for practical use.
Example Route Adjustments:
| Route | Old Schedule | Optimized Schedule |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | R: 20 min, H: 15 min | Every hour |
| 16 | R: 20 min, H: 10 min | Every hour |
| 17 | R: 20 min, H: 6 min | R: 20 min, H: 15 min |
| 21 | R: 30 min, H: 15 min | Every hour |
| 38 | R,H: 30 min | Every hour |
(R: Regular demand frequency, H: High Demand Frequency)
Fuel on the Horizon
By reducing unnecessary trips and aligning ferry usage with demand, the optimized schedule significantly lowers fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions. Ferries operate closer to capacity during peak hours while avoiding wasteful off-peak runs, contributing to environmental sustainability and cost savings. Below is a comparison of the potential emmission reduction for Route 17 with the new schedule.
Comparison of Daily CO₂ Emissions for Route 17
