Västtrafik is one of Sweden's largest public transport authorities, operating a multimodal fleet of approximately 2,400 vehicles across Västra Götaland – buses, trains, trams, and ferries. Managing onboard systems at that scale, across multiple modes and operators, demands a robust and open communication infrastructure.
A fleet of Västtrafik’s size and complexity brings real challenges around onboard connectivity. With many different onboard systems – each traditionally relying on separate communication channels – the risk of a fragmented, unmanageable IT environment is significant.
Västtrafik needed an open, standardised platform that could serve as a common foundation for onboard systems, one that their own IT organisation could build on and adapt, rather than being locked into a single vendor’s full-stack solution.
The collaboration with Pilotfish started with implementation of the Vehicle Gateway for Västtrafik’s ticketing system back in 2005. From there, the scope expanded naturally: vehicle communication, GPS positioning, RAKEL monitoring, and information supply via MQTT were gradually brought into the same infrastructure.
Today, Västtrafik uses the Pilotfish® Vehicle Gateway as the central hub for onboard connectivity, built on the ITxPT open specification. The platform provides vendor-independence across onboard systems and supports Västtrafik’s broader strategy for private APN (Access Point Name) and multioperator SIM roaming – giving their team more direct control over connectivity management.
Västtrafik takes the Vehicle Gateway as a foundation and builds on top of it with their own capable IT organisation – adapting and extending the solution to fit their specific needs. Pilotfish supports this through flexible delivery flows, whether customers want hands-on control or a more complete, managed solution.
With approximately 2,400 installations across the region, Västtrafik has a unified, open communication infrastructure that scales across all vehicle types.
The open infrastructure gives Västtrafik’s IT organisation the data foundation they need to monitor and manage onboard systems on their own terms.
The result: lower operational costs, a more efficient fleet, and full control in the hands of Västtrafik – not their suppliers.
Västtrafik is one of Sweden’s largest public transport authorities, operating 2,400+ vehicles – buses, trains, trams, and ferries – across the Västra Götaland region.
Pilotfish offers a wide range of hardware and software products that deliver exceptional value to our customers. Built around our Vehicle Communication Platform and adhering to ITxPT specifications, our solutions ensure high-quality service and interoperability to support daily operations.