Public Opinion on Route 12

Abstract

Due to the potential advantages of self-driving shuttle buses for individual travellers, the general population, and to the transportation system as a whole, it is essential to monitor public perceptions of this particular technological development. The execution of test runs with self-driving buses presents an excellent opportunity to do so. Alongside the introduction of Route 12 in Neuhausen am Rheinfall on March 27, 2018, the Institute of Science, Technol-ogy and Policy (ISTP) at ETH Zürich carried out a panel survey with three waves on the public perceptions of the test run as well as autonomous driving in general. On the whole, the test lab in Neuhausen am Rheinfall provides an excellent opportunity to assess whether and how such trials affect public perception, specifically regarding doubts and fears from a scientific perspective. This report describes the process of data collection and presents the results for all three survey waves carried out between February 2018 and October 2019 among a ran-dom sample of 8000 individuals representative of residents of three municipalities in the canton of Schaffhausen, Switzerland. The results can be summarized as follows: - Awareness of and knowledge about the test run increased by approximately 30 per-centage points from the first wave to over 90% in the third wave. - Public perception of the Route 12 trial and autonomous driving in general remained stable at high levels. - Residents assess the Route 12 project as worthwhile. - Overall high and stable acceptance levels exist for the Route 12 trial in Neuhausen am Rheinfall, which is crucial for future technology adoption. - Although no familiarity effects of the trial on public opinion was identified, the agreement with test runs increased slightly. - Consequences of the trial for the general population, involved stakeholders and vari-ous other aspects are predominantly positive. - Ride experience with Route 12 is vastly rated as positive, although travel speed is considered slow.