Public Opinion on Route 12: Final Report

Alongside the introduction of Route 12 in Neuhausen am Rheinfall on March 27, 2018, the Institute of Science, Technology and Policy carried out a panel survey with three waves on the public perceptions of the test run as well as autonomous driving in general. On the whole, the test lab in Neuhausen am Rheinfall provides an excellent opportunity to assess whether and how such trials affect public perception, specifically regarding doubts and fears from a scientific perspective.

The report describes the process of data collection and presents the results for all three survey waves carried out between February 2018 and October 2019 among a random sample of 8000 individuals representative of residents of three municipalities in the canton of Schaffhausen, Switzerland. The results can be summarized as follows:

• Awareness of and knowledge about the test run increased by approximately 30 percentage points from the first wave to over 90% in the third wave.
• Public perception of the Route 12 trial and autonomous driving in general remained stable at high levels. 
• Residents assess the Route 12 project as worthwhile.
• Overall high and stable acceptance levels exist for the Route 12 trial in Neuhausen am Rheinfall, which is crucial for future technology adoption.
• The agreement with test runs slightly increased. 
  
• Consequences of the trial for the general population, involved stakeholders and various other aspects are predominantly positive.
• Ride experience with Route 12 is vastly rated as positive, although travel speed is considered slow.