Autonomous transport as an alternative for public transport in the city during an epidemic threat

Abstract

Autonomous transport functioning within the urban agglomeration becomes a reality. More and more companies introduce vehicles successfully moving in traffic. It seems that autonomous transport is inevitable in the imminent future. The article aims to consider the safety aspects related to the use of autonomous vehicles. Safety in this context can be understood in two ways. The first is: how secure the technology is? The second is the safety of travellers regarding the virus infection risk. There are five categories in which we can divide the public transportation according to the level of autonomy, namely, a) vehicles without any automatics, b) assumes that there are driver assistance systems, c) capable of combining respective actions, d) conditional automation and e) do not need the presence of a driver during the ride. This study's results could be implemented to secure autonomous transport safety, as it becomes a reality. More and more companies introduce vehicles successfully moving in traffic; therefore, the safety issue should be seriously considered. The safety issues taken into consideration in this study are also considering the COVID-19 implications.