Postbus study: Swiss like self-driving buses

PostBus is one of the first providers in the world to use automated buses for passenger transportation on public roads. Since 23 June 2016, the two SmartShuttles have transported over 25,000 people in the center of Sion. A further 25,000 passengers have traveled on the two demo SmartShuttles, which PostBus has used at around 20 events in Switzerland and other European countries to date.

An important aim of the project is to find out whether the public likes self-driving buses. Daily operations in Sion and external events have shown that most passengers are curious before the journey, very attentive during the journey and relaxed after the journey. On September 12, PostBus presented the results of two qualitative and quantitative acceptance and impact studies to the media in Berne; one by the market research company GIM Suisse AG, the other by the University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland Valais.

Acceptance higher in Switzerland than in the USA and China
Between April and June 2017, a total of almost 400 people were asked what they thought about automated driving in general and self-driving buses in particular. On the one hand, people were interviewed on site in Sion: shuttle passengers, cyclists and car drivers, pedestrians, store owners and local residents. On the other hand, people who had not yet experienced automated driving themselves were interviewed by telephone.

• 51% of all respondents have no or only minor concerns about the use of self-driving buses. In Sion, where automated buses are part of everyday life in public spaces, this group makes up 62 percent.
• 49% (38% in Sion) have moderate or major concerns about getting on a self-driving bus. By comparison, 87 percent in China have major concerns about self-driving public transportation, 78 percent in the USA, 77 percent in India and 75 percent in Japan.

The results confirm this: People who have already ridden the SmartShuttles are significantly more positive about self-driving buses. In general, the Swiss population tends to have a positive attitude towards self-driving buses in an international comparison.

The survey conducted by the University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland Valais (HES-SO Valais) in parallel with the GIM study confirms the results.

PostBus is now also testing in closed areas in Bern
Those responsible will soon decide whether the test operation in Sion will come to an end on October 31, 2017 or whether it will be extended in terms of time and geography. In parallel to the operation in public areas, PostBus and Swiss Post have put a completed test area in the Stöckacker district of Bern into operation. The operation of new functions in connection with automated public transport is being tested there. For example, the on-demand function, which PostBus CEO Daniel Landolf and Swiss Post CEO Susanne Ruoff demonstrated there today (12.9.) in the presence of Erwin Wieland, Deputy Director of the Federal Roads Office, as a Swiss premiere: they ordered the completely unmanned Postbus to come to them at the click of a smartphone. This function should also be possible on roads in the medium term.

Links to the studies
- Link to the HES-SO Valais-Wallis Study
- Link to the study "A survey of public opinion about autonomous and self-driving vehicles in the U.S., the U.K., and Australia" Brandon Schoettle and Michael Sivak (Michigan 2014)