Put Some Drive in Your Country - Need for and Acceptance of Autonomously Operating Services in Rural Areas of Germany.

In order to preserve the quality of life especially in rural communities, new mobility concepts have to be developed. Autonomous vehicles present a promising and cutting-edge technology. This study was conducted with rural citizens in Germany to gain an understanding of what services and missing infrastructure could possibly be provided by the use of autonomous busses. With an online questionnaire, N = 112 datasets were collected that surveyed among other aspects the perception of autonomous busses and the possible deployment in their region. It was found that the delivery of goods and using it themselves was preferred to the transport of family members. Furthermore, the main obstacle is the still immature technology and a lack of legal guidelines. The results are an important first step to introduce the technology in the future and offers necessary insights developers and different stakeholders.