Survey by ZTG in Berlin: Little Trust in Driverless Shuttles

A survey on acceptance by the Center for Technology and Society (ZTG) at the Technical University of Berlin (TU) as part of the research project "Shuttles & Co – Autonomous Shuttles & Co in the Digital Test Field Urban Traffic" shows that without accompanying personnel on board, trust in highly automated driving vehicles is currently still low. The scientists at ZTG surveyed users of the three highly automated electric minibuses (Level 3) which the Berlin Public Transport Company (BVG) operated in a residential area in Berlin-Tegel from summer 2021 to mid-2022 to better connect them to public transportation. In addition, residents and business people in the deployment area were also interviewed. The focus was not only on the subjective feeling of safety but also on user-friendliness and the contribution to climate protection.

With or without accompaniment makes a big difference

With accompanying personnel on board, 96% of those surveyed who rode during a pilot project involving highly automated shuttles in Berlin's public transport system felt safe. When asked how safe they would feel if such a shuttle were to travel without accompanying personnel, the value dropped to just under 50%. 26% even stated that the expected feeling of safety would be poor or very poor. And in the age group of those over 65, 39% said they did not feel safe without personnel.

"This enormous discrepancy shows the technical and psychological hurdles that still need to be overcome before the technology of fully autonomous driving is accepted by people," says Dr.-Ing. Wulf-Holger Arndt, who led the project in the ZTG department "Mobility and Space." "Our survey also revealed that the acceptance of autonomously driven private cars is worse than in public transport."

Good for the climate

In terms of environmental friendliness, the approval ratings among the surveyed passengers and residents were high—electric shuttles contribute to climate protection because they have the potential to reduce private car traffic and thus CO₂ emissions, according to the unanimous opinion.

"Our acceptance survey and citizen dialogues have shown that climate-friendly mobility is important to people and they want to contribute. However, they also demand a functioning, comprehensive 24-hour public transport system that makes their private cars superfluous. This ambition is high and costly. Society must decide whether it wants to afford such a public transport system that protects the climate," says Arndt.

Recommendations from the scientists

To make autonomous shuttles useful and beneficial in the regular operation of public transportation, the ZTG scientists believe the following further steps are effective:

• Expanding the deployment area with longer routes, longer operating hours, and on-demand stops,
• Identifying residential areas where the demand for these shuttles is higher than in the Tegel residential area,
• Developing a concept that clarifies the integration of these shuttles into an overall Berlin transportation strategy and transparently explains to citizens what is being done, why it is being done, and what the consequences are,
• Intensive education, public relations, and citizen participation to reduce existing skepticism about driverless shuttles (Level 4).

Background

"Shuttles&Co," in which, in addition to the ZTG and the Daimler Center for Automotive IT Innovations of the TU Berlin, the Berlin Public Transport Company, the Senate Department for Environment, Mobility, Consumer and Climate Protection, Berlin Partner for Business and Technology with the Berlin Agency for Electromobility, the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the Fraunhofer Institute for Transport System Technology FOKUS, and the Free University of Berlin were involved, was funded by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport with 9.1 million euros. 1.3 million euros went to the TU Berlin.

Further information about the project "Shuttles&Co" at https://www.tu.berlin/ztg/shuttlesco