Wouldn’t it be great if we instantly knew where to find a city bike? Wouldn’t it be great if we knew exactly which route we should choose to get on time? If we could leave our car behind and use public transport more effectively? There is great potential to navigate the city of Stavanger more effectively, and without exploiting our nature to a degree where it harms our environment.

Norway has an electricity mix primarily based on renewable energy, whereas hydropower accounts for more than 95 per cent. Our most significant challenges lie not with electricity usage, but within another energy-consuming sector. In Stavanger, road transport is, by far, the biggest emission source. Our focus is thus, mobility.

Significant opportunities for smarter logistics
Our region outside the cities is widespread and scarcely populated. It’s easier to choose a car before considering the bus, with sometimes long distances between stops. A widespread region also means great distances for delivery vehicles – even for smaller deliveries. We see that one of the consequences is insufficient utilisation of delivery trucks, they are sometimes even less than half empty. Wouldn’t it be great if we could make deliveries more effective and sustainable, both in the cities and in the region?

Aim to reduce CO2 emissions by 80 %
In Stavanger, we are working towards an 80 % CO2 emission reduction by 2030, with several intermediate objectives along the way. We strive for less motorised vehicles and wish to increase soft mobility. Additionally, amongst other things, we wish to utilise the delivery of goods, public transport systems and soft mobility access more efficiently. Within these goals lies great potential for both development and emission reduction.

By working together with the Paris region, Copenhagen, Tallinn, Amsterdam and Helsinki through the AI4Cities project we can work closely with the market and engage a large number of relevant companies, to handle the emission reduction goals that we have.

Inspiring to be a part of AI4Cities
Through the AI4Cities project, we find ourselves in a situation where we can make a difference by aiming to make our measures more efficient and accurate. Together with this project, we can strive towards easy access to soft mobility choices and more often than not leave the car behind. This project can find new ways of mobility and make it easier to combine and utilise the various forms of public transport that are accessible, such as city bikes and busses. Achieving such goals through AI4Cities can be beneficial for both public employees as well as private businesses.

Additionally, the AI4Cities project enables us to strive for better utilisation of delivery vehicles, making them more cost-efficient. The knock-on effects are several, such as more sustainable production and more accessible markets for local suppliers, making sustainable trade a more obvious choice. Achieving such solutions through AI4Cities can have positive consequences both for the city and our region, as well as other places, and make us less dependent on long transport routes and large production units.

Wouldn’t it be great if we, through AI4Cities, can contribute to our emission reduction goals and come up with new ideas and solutions that are sought after by many countries? We hope, that trough collaboration, we can utilise the potential in AI and big data to reach the ambitious environmental goals we have set. Through this project, we can invest in our common future!