Lessons learned from shared automated vehicles pilots in Europe: An evaluation of safety, traffic, and user acceptance

In this study, we evaluate the performance of 3 deployment scenarios of shared autonomous mobility in 12 pilot sites from the H2020 SHOW project – Feeder shuttles in open/semi-open environment, Shuttles/buses in closed environment, and shared robotaxis – in terms of road safety, traffic efficiency, and user experience and acceptance using multi-criteria decision analysis approach (TOPSIS). Our results show that the safety performance of the vehicles was positive in the shared robotaxis and shuttles in closed environment scenarios, while the pilots operating in open environments in mixed traffic had more safety incidents. Overall, the ranking of pilot performances in safety and traffic efficiency were not always comparable. Alternatively, the user experience and acceptance was not particularly aligned with the safety and traffic efficiency, as rankings were contrasting. While the users reported dissatisfaction with low operating speeds in most sites, the usefulness, safety and reliability of the services were still valued and perceived positively, particularly in pilot sites with few hard braking events and limited sudden speed changes. The study also highlighted the need for standardization processes in terms of data collection when conducting such an evaluation, as well as the need for contextual and baseline data in future pilots.