The acceptance of automated vehicles is a necessary condition for realizing the benefits of road vehicle automation. The objective of the thesis was to examine the acceptance of automated vehicles feeding public transport. The thesis investigated the factors contributing to user acceptance, as well as the interrelations of those factors. It was also investigated how acceptance differs across socio-demographic groups and countries. Online questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, a systematic literature review, and accompanied test rides were performed. Participants were asked to imagine the use of automated vehicles or physically experienced them in mixed traffic environments in Berlin (Germany) and Trikala (Greece). The thesis concludes that respondents positively valued the idea of using automated vehicles in public transport. However, respondents had overly positive and idealized expectations of automated vehicles. Socio-demographic factors were weak predictors of automated vehicle acceptance. The most important predictors of automated vehicle acceptance are domain-specific factors, followed by symbolic-affective and moral-normative factors. The acceptance of automated vehicles follows a sequential decision-making process. The acceptance of automated vehicles does not only depend on passengers inside but also vulnerable road users outside automated vehicles. For future work, it is recommended to examine acceptance over time and use more objective data (e.g., data from vehicle usage) together with self-reports in functional automated public transport. (Author/publisher)
Abstract