At least 77% of Russian residents aged 18-65 are ready to use unmanned taxi, reports NTI Autonet (results of the survey available on ICT.Moscow). In one year this indicator has increased - in 2019 a similar survey showed that over 60% of residents were ready to use autonomous cars.

Moscow’s result was higher than the average result in the country - 79%. The number of autonomous cars tested in Moscow is the largest in the country.

Source: NTI Autonet, 2020 (data available on ICT.Moscow)

10.5 thousand people aged 18-65 took part in the survey. Younger residents aged 25-34 more positively perceive autonomous taxi: 83.3% of them are ready to use such means of transport. 73% of people over 45 also said they could use autonomous taxi, even though this age group is considered to be more conservative. According to NTI Autonet, such results indicate the possibility of self-driving taxi rapidly becoming a part of everyday life.

Other evaluation of autonomous vehicles perception in Russia

Other surveys also show that Russian residents are ready for using unmanned transport. For example, this indicator was monitored by KPMG analysts while compiling the Global report entitled “Autonomous Vehicles Readiness Index 2019”. To evaluate the readiness of customers to embrace the technology, Branded Research company conducted a focus group survey in 25 countries. People in India, Mexico, UAE and Russia reportedly have the most optimistic perception of autonomous transport.

Source: KPMG, 2019

USA readiness for autonomous vehicles

Google’s project Waymo is the leader in terms of the distance covered by autonomous vehicles. By the beginning of the year, its cars drove 20 million miles (for comparison - Yandex cars drove 4 million miles or 6.4 million km). Nevertheless, studies show that Americans are not so enthusiastic about the technology.

A survey conducted at the beginning of 2020 in the USA by Partners for Automated Vehicle Education showed that 48% of Americans “will never get” in an autonomous taxi. Around three fourths of Americans say the unmanned transport technology is not ready yet.

The respondents of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and World Economic Forum (WEF) survey also say that the technology is still immature. However, they say that it is of primary importance to change the culture and the perception of this means of transport.

Autonomous vehicles testing

Currently, the testing of automated vehicles in Russia is carried out in accordance with the Russian government decree No.1415  “On Conducting an Experiment in Testing the Use of Highly Automated Vehicles on Public Roads”. Unmanned vehicles can drive on public roads in 13 regions.

The current version of the decree does not imply the use of unmanned transport in commercial services and also requires a driver in the car, NTI Autonet notes.

The regulation in the field of autonomous transport is currently being developed. It will allow to switch from autonomous car testing to their full use in services. In May, the Ministry of Economic Development supported the draft plan for staged implementation of unmanned vehicles until 2023.

In July, Yandex Self Driving Cars team (the company is involved in the development of the document) told ICT.Moscow that the plan was being finalized and by the end of August it would be presented to the Russian president.