Autonomous ferries in light of labor regulations—A passenger perspective

We study the potential effects of introducing autonomous ferries in a transportation system of water buses. We develop two integer linear programming models and a heuristic to find weekly passenger transportation plans. One model is tailored for a fleet of autonomous ferries and the other one for ma...

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Main Authors: Christian Braathen, Julio C. Goez, Mario Guajardo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-12-01
Series:Maritime Transport Research
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666822X24000133
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author Christian Braathen
Julio C. Goez
Mario Guajardo
author_facet Christian Braathen
Julio C. Goez
Mario Guajardo
author_sort Christian Braathen
collection DOAJ
description We study the potential effects of introducing autonomous ferries in a transportation system of water buses. We develop two integer linear programming models and a heuristic to find weekly passenger transportation plans. One model is tailored for a fleet of autonomous ferries and the other one for manually operated ferries. The objective of the models is to minimize a penalty function for unmet demand, adding up penalties on time delays with respect to the wished time of arrivals of the passengers and penalties on the assignment of passengers to alternative transportation modes. The models differ because working laws affect the crews’ working capacities, and we study the changes when these requirements are absent with autonomous ferries. Our work is motivated by the case of Bergen, a coastal city in Norway. In this case, the use of autonomous ferries has the potential to improve passengers’ utility significantly. However, we suggest that it may be beneficial to consider autonomous ferries as a complementary alternative that can operate especially in low-demand hours—a recommendation that may be particularly relevant if there are few autonomous ferries available or the ferries can only be operative for a limited number of hours of the day.
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spelling doaj-art-bc7419487fd548f0ae9bb2c9a021e00b2025-08-20T02:31:09ZengElsevierMaritime Transport Research2666-822X2024-12-01710011510.1016/j.martra.2024.100115Autonomous ferries in light of labor regulations—A passenger perspectiveChristian Braathen0Julio C. Goez1Mario Guajardo2NHH Norwegian School of Economics, Helleveien 30, NO-5045, Bergen, NorwayNHH Norwegian School of Economics, Helleveien 30, NO-5045, Bergen, NorwayCorresponding author.; NHH Norwegian School of Economics, Helleveien 30, NO-5045, Bergen, NorwayWe study the potential effects of introducing autonomous ferries in a transportation system of water buses. We develop two integer linear programming models and a heuristic to find weekly passenger transportation plans. One model is tailored for a fleet of autonomous ferries and the other one for manually operated ferries. The objective of the models is to minimize a penalty function for unmet demand, adding up penalties on time delays with respect to the wished time of arrivals of the passengers and penalties on the assignment of passengers to alternative transportation modes. The models differ because working laws affect the crews’ working capacities, and we study the changes when these requirements are absent with autonomous ferries. Our work is motivated by the case of Bergen, a coastal city in Norway. In this case, the use of autonomous ferries has the potential to improve passengers’ utility significantly. However, we suggest that it may be beneficial to consider autonomous ferries as a complementary alternative that can operate especially in low-demand hours—a recommendation that may be particularly relevant if there are few autonomous ferries available or the ferries can only be operative for a limited number of hours of the day.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666822X24000133Public transportationAutonomous ferriesInteger linear programming
spellingShingle Christian Braathen
Julio C. Goez
Mario Guajardo
Autonomous ferries in light of labor regulations—A passenger perspective
Maritime Transport Research
Public transportation
Autonomous ferries
Integer linear programming
title Autonomous ferries in light of labor regulations—A passenger perspective
title_full Autonomous ferries in light of labor regulations—A passenger perspective
title_fullStr Autonomous ferries in light of labor regulations—A passenger perspective
title_full_unstemmed Autonomous ferries in light of labor regulations—A passenger perspective
title_short Autonomous ferries in light of labor regulations—A passenger perspective
title_sort autonomous ferries in light of labor regulations a passenger perspective
topic Public transportation
Autonomous ferries
Integer linear programming
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666822X24000133
work_keys_str_mv AT christianbraathen autonomousferriesinlightoflaborregulationsapassengerperspective
AT juliocgoez autonomousferriesinlightoflaborregulationsapassengerperspective
AT marioguajardo autonomousferriesinlightoflaborregulationsapassengerperspective