Icy roads and urban environments. Passenger experiences in autonomous vehicles in Finland

•Trust, safety and security were the main factors influencing people’s attitudes.•There were no significant differences between gender regarding safety and security.•Younger people felt their personal security to be significantly better than older.•In an emergency, students felt possibilities to act to be better than employed.•Winter conditions did not significantly influence people’s attitudes. This study focused on identifying customerś real-life experiences, perceptions and feelings about travelling in different autonomous vehicles and in various operating conditions in Finland in 2018. Quantitative convenience sample (n = 141) were collected from passengers travelling on an autonomous shuttle bus in Helsinki. Qualitative data (n = 70) were gathered by interviewing passengers of a driverless shuttle bus in Helsinki and passengers of an autonomous car in winter conditions in Lapland. This research was first one which included passengers’ real-life experiences after using autonomous vehicles in winter conditions. We applied the Theory of Planned Behaviour. The research questions were (a) What beliefs about outcomes and evaluation of outcomes do passengers have and carry out when they travel in an autonomous vehicle, irrespective of vehicle type or operating conditions? (b) What key factors influence people’s positive or negative attitudes towards autonomous vehicles? (c) What key factors could induce people to use autonomous vehicles? The quantitative data were analysed by nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis H test and qualitative data by inductive content analysis. According to the results, trust, safety and security were the main factors influencing people’s positive attitudes towards using autonomous vehicles. Results from passengers travelling in heavy winter conditions indicate that winter conditions do not significantly influence passengers’ attitudes towards using autonomous vehicles. There were no significant differences between gender regarding passengers’ perceptions of traffic safety, personal security and emergency management. However, younger passengers felt their personal security on board to be significantly better than older and students their possibilities to act in a case of emergency significantly better than employed people.