Designing a resilient automated waterborne transport system using discrete event simulation

The paper presents a replicable simulation architecture to assess the economic, environmental, and resilience performance of commercial electric and automated marine passenger transport systems. Built on Discrete Event Simulation (DES), the architecture balances simulation complexity and detail in early system development. It comprises key components such as the modelling framework, data flow, data integration and user interface. A case study in Karlskrona, Sweden, demonstrates its application, showing that DES enhances transparency, facilitates stakeholder communication, and supports iterative solution refinement. The results highlight the architecture’s potential to support sustainable urban waterborne transport and decision-making under uncertainty.