Driverless shuttles could soon revitalise local public transport, particularly in isolated rural areas. However, a new study reveals that widespread adoption will depend entirely on making passengers feel completely safe and on clearly defining who is responsible when the technology fails.
Researchers from the Institute for Transport Studies (IFV) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) analysed the results of 430 test runs with real passengers in the German cities of Mannheim and Friedrichshafen.
Professor Martin Kagerbauer explained the core finding: “Automated service can significantly improve mobility in rural areas, provided it works reliably and the users understand what the vehicles can do.”
The safety caveat
The surveys conducted during the test runs showed that the public is generally very open to the idea of autonomous vehicles. However, this acceptance is strictly tied to how safe passengers feel during the journey.
Christian Klinkhardt, a researcher at the IFV, noted that this safety concern goes far beyond trusting the technical systems.
“The safety of the technical systems is one aspect, while another is the possibility of aggressive or threatening fellow passengers,” Klinkhardt said.
To combat these social and technical fears in a driverless environment, passengers stressed the need for:
- Good interior visibility.
- A direct connection to a control centre.
- Clear information provided during the trip.
Replacing the rural car journey
When these safety and reliability metrics are met, the analysis showed that autonomous shuttles can easily facilitate everyday trips to schools, shops, or train stations. Crucially, these shuttles could directly replace journeys that previously required a personal car.
“This opens up new opportunities, especially in outlying areas,” Klinkhardt noted.
However, he added that to be successful, the shuttles must operate reliably on demand and integrate seamlessly into existing public transport ticketing and information systems.
The accountability question
Before driverless buses become a permanent fixture, the industry must answer some difficult operational and legal questions.
“Who operates the vehicles and the software? Who takes responsibility if the autonomous system is unavailable at some point? These are practical questions that don’t play a role in conventional bus service,” Kagerbauer said.
Klinkhardt added that reliable everyday operation requires these specific roles to be clearly assigned between vehicle manufacturers, software providers, and municipal transport operators.
The findings from this completed test project, known as RABus, are already being incorporated into KIT’s current KIRA and ALIKE programmes, which will test autonomous vehicles in Hamburg, Darmstadt, and Offenbach.
The researchers concluded that the next major milestone must be an officially approved vehicle that is legally allowed to drive completely without human supervision. In the medium term, this technology could offer a vital lifeline to areas suffering from severe staff shortages or limited public transport services.
