Use case of Autonomous Vehicle shuttle and passenger acceptance analysis

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are moving from test areas to the streets, which is one of the key components of smart cities and the future of mobility as a service (MaaS). In 2020, two AV services were operated in Tallinn. This paper focuses on one of these services, and its set-up process. The pilot project took place in Ulemiste City, a tech park with 10 000 people working daily in the area, and it connected the offices with the airport and a shopping centre. The autonomous shuttle iseAuto, created first at TalTech, was used for the service (on streets with heavy traffic, including some complex crossings). Our findings associated with the Ulemiste experiment are presented in the context of legal requirements set upon autonomous vehicles to be street legal. Some events that occurred during the operation (including an accident) are addressed and a summary of the feedback from clients is presented. Further studies should focus on the extended concept of smart cities with a roadmap for the nearest future. Key words: autonomous vehicles, smart city, self-driving car, last-mile shuttle.