Deployment Scenarios for First/Last-Mile Operations With Driverless Shuttles Based on Literature Review and Stakeholder Survey

Abstract

Driverless shuttles are a new automated road-based means of transport, small in size and capacity and with a relatively low operational speed. Classified as high-automation vehicles, these shuttles are capable of driverless operations in specific operational design domains. Given their characteristics, driverless shuttles have been studied as a first/last-mile complement to main public transport lines, serving the access and egress parts in multimodal trips. Currently, driverless shuttles are mostly operated as pilots testing their technical capabilities and measuring passengers' willingness to use them. To reduce the gap between pilots and implementation, this study formulates a set of deployment scenarios for driverless shuttle integration in transit. A four-step approach is followed. First, the scenario field is identified. Second, key factors that support the future integration of driverless shuttles are defined based on a literature study. Third, these key factors are analysed through a stakeholder survey, in which experts in the field of transport define possible development directions. Fourth, survey respondents combine these factors to create plausible future scenarios. Through the formulation of three scenarios, the results of this study show the best combinations of vehicle characteristics, type of supervision, operational characteristics, and type of infrastructure for future integration of driverless shuttles.