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User Acceptance of Automated Shuttle Buses—Results of a Passenger Survey in Stolberg

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Smart Energy for Smart Transport (CSUM 2022)

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Abstract

Future mobility is described as efficient, environmentally friendly, automated, connected, shared and safe. Automated shuttle buses that are electrically operated combine the flexibility of individual transport with the cost efficiency of public transport. This technology leads to the reduction of congestion and greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, automated shuttle buses are part of the future and sustainable mobility concepts in urban and rural areas. Besides technological development, user acceptance is the most important factor for automated shuttle buses to become established in the future. A number of acceptance studies of automated vehicles and in particular of automated shuttle buses have already been carried out. These mainly examine usability, effort, acceptance, safety as well as speed, space or braking. This paper makes a further contribution to the acceptance, control and performance of automated shuttle buses. In contrast to previous publications, these results are based on a pilot operation that takes place entirely in public space. Furthermore, the acceptance analysis focuses on the future permanent use of automated shuttle busses, which closes another research gap. For this purpose, a questionnaire based on the “Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology” model was created and passengers were interviewed after a ride with the automated shuttle bus in Stolberg. The results show that more than 80% of the respondents are satisfied with the whole ride and especially with the accessibility. In addition, over 90% of passengers felt safe, but over 70% were also happy to have an operator on board. In conclusion, almost 70% are in favor of the shuttle bus continuing to run in the future and would even pay money for it.

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Funding

This publication was funded as part of the research project “Automated Shuttle Buses—Benefit Analysis Saxony-Anhalt” with support from the state of Saxony-Anhalt from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Logistics and Material Handling Systems (ILM), University Magdeburg “Otto-Von-Guericke”, Magdeburg, Germany

    Sönke Beckmann & Hartmut Zadek

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  1. Sönke Beckmann
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  2. Hartmut Zadek
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Correspondence to Sönke Beckmann .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece

    Eftihia G. Nathanail

  2. Department of Planning and Regional Development, University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece

    Nikolaos Gavanas

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece

    Giannis Adamos

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Beckmann, S., Zadek, H. (2023). User Acceptance of Automated Shuttle Buses—Results of a Passenger Survey in Stolberg. In: Nathanail, E.G., Gavanas, N., Adamos, G. (eds) Smart Energy for Smart Transport. CSUM 2022. Lecture Notes in Intelligent Transportation and Infrastructure. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-23721-8_89

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-23721-8_89

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