What do people think about autonomous minibuses in Germany?

Abstract

Autonomous minibuses gain increasing importance as a mobility option for public transport. In order to realize advantages like increased safety and productivity as well as reduced emissions and congestion (1) user’s needs have to be considered when further developing this technology. So far, there is only a little knowledge about use intentions for autonomous minibuses in public transport and the general perception. This paper presents the results of a Germany-wide online survey and answers the questions: What do people think about autonomous minibuses? When and how would people use them? What are the perceived advantages and disadvantages? Firstly, we analyzed the data descriptively. Secondly, we performed a principal component analysis to reduce data complexity and to identify attitude-based influences on people’s perception. Over 60% liked the minibuses and could imagine to use them in the future. We found one component representing a general attitude towards the minibuses that correlates strongly with the intention to use.

Kostorz et al.: WHAT DO PEOPLE THINK ABOUT AUTONOMOUS MINIBUSES IN GERMANY? 2