A Use-Case-Driven Study in Germany

3 Preface Autonomous driving has become a hot topic in the last few years – not only in Germany, but around the globe. In 2012, the world's largest conference on transport research and development, the Transport Research Board Annual Meeting, which takes place every January in Washington, put the topic under the spotlight for the first time with its own seminar entitled " Ready for Automated Driving. " By the time of the 2016 Annual Meeting, there were already more than ten sessions on autonomous driving, and Chris Urmson from Google was the keynote speaker at the main networking event. The interest experienced by autonomous driving has been growing equally rapidly in Germany. In 2013 Daimler Benz attracted attention with the fully automated version of its Bertha Benz Memorial Route, on which other automotive manufacturers such as Audi or BMW were soon demonstrating their own self-driving cars. Under the aegis of the German Federal Ministry of Transport, an " Automated Driving " Round Table was established; contributions from economic and social stakeholders as well as from research are incorporated in the Federal Government's " Strategy for Automated and Connected Driving. " Barely a day goes by without the media reporting on autonomous driving. Hand in hand with this trend, researchers are striving to locate the topic within the larger context of the future of mobility, thus addressing aspects that go beyond purely technical or legal matters. As those " affected " by the new technological development, ordinary people are being placed in greater focus: How is autonomous driving being received by society at large? What impact will this have on people's transport behavior? What new options and concepts appear especially interesting to the users? This study addresses these and other questions. We are delighted that you are interested in our findings and wish you insightful and exciting reading! Among the first larger research activities that has dealt with autonomous driving from a wider perspective was the " Villa Ladenburg " project (2012-2015). Central aspects of the project included potential future users of autonomous vehicles and possible implications for the transport system. " Villa Ladenburg " was funded by the Daimler and Benz foundation, and convened an international network of renowned experts from various disciplines. The results of this work were published in a comprehensive compendium in German in 2015 (publicly available online: Associated with the " Villa Ladenburg " project, …