Situational awareness in autonomous shuttle buses

Autonomous shuttle buses provide a promising solution for the last-mile problem in various contexts. The removal of the human driver facilitates round-the-clock operations as well as transportation in locations that might otherwise be unfeasible for buses operated by a human driver. Trials have been conducted on these buses, and several companies aim to equip their vehicles with full self-driving capabilities. However, removing the human driver introduces several challenges, particularly in handling emergency situations. The absence of the driver, therefore, calls for increased passenger situational awareness, i.e., understanding of the environmental and contextual factors impacting the operations of the bus the passenger is on. It remains unclear to what extent bus manufacturers have considered these issues or integrated them into the design. This research seeks to shed light on the matter by studying the topic both from the industry’s and users’ perspectives.