Results from field surveys among pedestrians and cyclists on how they interact with autonomous shuttles in real-life traffic in Norway. Automated vehicles (AVs) are entering our roads, and autonomous shuttles (self-driving mini buses) are under development and being tried and deployed in many cities around the world.

However, before our roads are solely used by fully AVs, there will be a long transition period where fully AVs, partially AVs and manually driven vehicles, bicyclists and pedestrians must share the roads. For the introduction of AVs into this traffic mix to be successful, the interaction with other road users is critical. This paper presents the results from field surveys about real-life interactions with AV shuttles among pedestrians and bicyclists in two Norwegian pilots where AV shuttles were introduced in mixed traffic. The results show that pedestrians and cyclists generally behave considerately and tend to yield to the AV shuttles, although at one of the research sites there is a tendency that cyclists become less considerate towards the AV shuttles over time.

Read more in the paper Tim De Ceunynck worked on with other researchers.

Tim De Ceunynck, Project Manager Mobility at LRM and freelance researcher, is also a speaker at the European event Automotive Week 2023 at the Automotive Campus in Helmond.

Do you want to know more about the do’s and don’ts of Autonomous shuttles? On Tuesday April 18 Tim De Ceunynck, gives you insights together with Axel Bergweiler (Bahnen der Stadt Monheim GmbH), Matthieu Graindorge (City of Helmond), Peter Staelens (Eurocities) and Magdalena Szymańska (Municipality of Gdansk).