UTILIZED SOFTWARE 

Cesium, Cesium Ion, Cesium for Unity

LOCATION 

UK

ORGANIZATION/COMPANY 

TransiT – Digital Twins for Transport Decarbonisation

At the Port of Dover, which handles one-third of UK–EU trade worth £144 billion, 2 million HGVs and 120 daily ferry movements, intense decarbonization pressure collided with transport and energy planning tools that couldn't keep up — standard static GIS software such as QGIS and ArcGIS failed to scale to the complex cross-sectoral datasets the transition demanded. Through the TransiT programme, the team used Cesium, Cesium Ion, and Cesium for Unity to build a high-fidelity 3D geospatial digital twin of the port, integrating XR simulations with hybrid energy-transport models to test electric-HGV scenarios, and combining desktop dashboards, VR training, and Google 3D photogrammetry in a single environment. Cesium Ion streamlined 3D asset deployment and cut local hardware processing demands, while Codex accelerated prototyping of simulation behaviours — lifting prototyping speed by 66%, from one to three projects per month, and enabling "fail-fast" virtual validation that reduces capital planning risk. The twin turned scenario testing into evidence: it identified that the Ashford East 11kV substation reaches zero headroom by 2027 and established that regional power constraints require physical grid expansion rather than smart charging alone, aligning strategic transport and energy interests around one shared model. It now runs traffic and planning scenarios to cut design time and uncertainty, provides interactive dashboards for real-time port operations decision support, and delivers specialized VR modules that guide operators through high-risk E-HGV roadside maintenance. By improving logistics efficiency and speeding the shift to electric freight, the project reduces local emissions and congestion for healthier port communities — proving the geospatial digital twin as a scalable, replicable blueprint for national transport decarbonization.