Evaluation of the Seating Environment of an Autonomous Taxi on User Needs – An Online Survey Investigation

Abstract

In the UNICARagil project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, four modular autonomous vehicle concepts are de-veloped. The paper deals with an autonomous taxi designed for ride sharing and non-driving tasks and activities. An online-based survey is conducted to evaluate integrated components and features of the seating environment under different conditions of use. The expectations, preferences and wishes of 181 survey par-ticipants are compared with the aspects and features to be offered in the auto-TAXI. The results show that using the equipment elements of the seating envi-ronment depends on various influencing factors such as trip duration, type of trip, privacy and activity. In general, users' expectations of the autoTAXI's equipment elements are met.