Cybernetic transport systems: lessons to be learned from user needs analysis and field experience

CyberCars is a European project in the Information Society Technologies Programme of the Fifth Framework.. The Project's main goal is to accelerate the development and implementation of novel urban transportation systems, based on automated vehicles for movement of people and goods. These systems aim at improving mobility, while reducing negative effects of the private car use in cities (congestion, pollution...), by complementing today's mass transit systems and hence offering a real alternative with better convenience and efficiency than the private car in the cities. This paper investigates: the user needs of cybercars; valuable field experience in the area of human-machine interface (HMI) and the legal hurdles encountered in first implementations of "cybercars" in Switzerland.