Reliability is key to AV acceptance, finds Dutch study

Reliability is the key factor in people’s acceptance of autonomous vehicles, suggests a new academic study. Nine out of ten people said it was easy to use 2getthere’s Parkshuttle, operated by the Dutch municipality of Capelle aan den Ijssel. Four out of five respondents said the system - which connects Rivium business park and metro station Kralingse Zoom - is reliable, mainly because of its frequency and punctuality. The qualitative study from Utrecht University also focused on operational factors
August 31, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
Reliability is the key factor in people’s acceptance of autonomous vehicles, suggests a new academic study. Nine out of ten people said it was easy to use 8172 2getthere’s Parkshuttle, operated by the Dutch municipality of Capelle aan den Ijssel.


Four out of five respondents said the system - which connects Rivium business park and metro station Kralingse Zoom - is reliable, mainly because of its frequency and punctuality.

The qualitative study from 5584 Utrecht University also focused on operational factors include safety and security, travel time, information services, price and payment system, comfort and integration in the public transport network.

The author, by Jochem van der Burg, hopes that the insights gained could be used in the decision-making process around autonomous transit systems elsewhere.

When it came to safety, ParkShuttle passengers felt criminal activity on the vehicles was very unlikely - despite the absence of an on-board steward.

These findings, according to Van den Burg, contrast with passengers in a similar demonstration in Vantaa, Finland, who provided a low score for security – even though their AV was manned.

The disparity could stem from Parkshuttle’s larger passenger capacity of 24 which results in more “social control” when measured against the limit of ten riders per trip in the Finnish driverless bus.

Robbert Lohmann, CCO of 2getthere, believes it is also important that the Utrecht University study was based on a service which has been operational since 2006.

“Finnish respondents were asked for their impressions after a ride in a temporary demonstration, meaning their response is more likely based on expectation than actual experience,” Lohmann adds.

The Dutch study also shows only half of the riders feel positive about the travel information provided at stations - and nearly all say there is a lack of information about delays and cancellations.

Going forward, 2getthere intends to install information kiosks at shuttle stops to display system status and the vehicle’s arrival time. ParkShuttle’s current single information displays will be replaced by two 19” vertical touch screens which will display information on travel time.

Related Content

  • April 1, 2019
    C-ITS in the EU: ‘A little tribal’
    As the C-ITS Delegated Act begins its journey through the European policy maze, Adam Hill looks at who is expecting what from this proposed framework for connected vehicles – and why some people are insisting that the lawmakers are already getting things wrong here are furrowed brows in Brussels and Strasbourg as European Union legislators begin to consider the rules which will underpin future services such as connected vehicles. The idea is to create a regulatory framework to harmonise cooperative ITS
    Read More
  • February 20, 2019
    CES 2019 says hello to the future
    The launch of the latest gadgets has made the Consumer Electronics Show into tech heaven for geeks worldwide – but there is a serious ITS component, too. Ben Spencer braves the bright lights of Las Vegas to find out more The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has been the showcase for some of the world’s most iconic gadgets – from VCRs to the Commodore 64, and from the camcorder to the launch of HDTV. This has made CES a mecca for tech heads all over the world since it began in the 1960s, but these days it
    Read More
  • May 9, 2019
    Switching Atlanta onto MaaS
    It’s easy to talk about MaaS in the abstract – but MaaS isn’t going to work if it’s just a theory. Colin Sowman speaks to one woman about the practical benefits - and difficulties - of getting out of her car and switching to public transit in Atlanta, Georgia One of the first goals of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) inventor Sampo Hietanen is that MaaS should persuade households they don’t need a second car. This is starting to happen - even in the car-dominated US. Last year, authorities in the state of Ge
    Read More
  • November 14, 2018
    Aimsun takes part in driver data study to improve C/AVs
    Aimsun is taking part in a UK study which is using human driver data to help improve the performance and acceptability of connected and autonomous vehicles (C/AVs). The one-year project, Learning through Ambient Driving Styles for Autonomous Vehicles (LAMBDA-V), will also look at how driver behaviour can be analysed and used to accelerate the adoption of C/AVs. Aimsun says new rules for safer and more efficient driving behaviour could be created from existing vehicles, based on road laws and on how h
    Read More

Highlighted Content