Preparing for a Driverless Future: SZTE Researchers Explore How People and Cities Can Adapt to Autonomous Vehicles
Preparing for a Driverless Future: SZTE Researchers Explore How People and Cities Can Adapt to Autonomous Vehicles
2026. October 19.
2 perc
Self-driving vehicles promise to transform the way we travel, but their successful introduction will depend on more than technological progress. How ready are people and cities to embrace this new form of mobility? At the University of Szeged, a multidisciplinary research group is working to answer this question. Bringing together experts from several fields, including researchers from the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, the Autonomous Vehicle Readiness Research Group explores how autonomous vehicles can be integrated into everyday life in ways that maximize their benefits while minimizing potential drawbacks.
Research into public attitudes toward autonomous vehicles has traditionally relied on questionnaires. At the University of Szeged, however, researchers have been taking this approach a step further for several years, complementing conventional social science methods with biometric measurements. This allows them to explore not only what people say about the technology, but also how they respond to it.
The next major step took the research out onto public roads for the first time. In collaboration with aiMotive, a Hungarian automated-driving technology company, the SZTE team conducted measurements in real-world traffic conditions, collecting neurophysiological and behavioral data from participants during an approximately 15-minute journey in self-driving mode on Hungary’s M0 motorway. The high-speed traffic environment makes the study particularly distinctive, and researchers are now analyzing the data collected under these challenging conditions.
Beyond individual experiences, the team’s research also explores the broader urban implications of autonomous vehicles, examining how their introduction may influence the emotions, trust, and behavior of people navigating city traffic.
The SZTE research team brings together Nikoletta Nádas, Zoltán Majó-Petri, and Miklós Lukovics from the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, as well as Zsolt Palatinus and Zsolt Dudás from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Watch the SZTE research team conduct its innovative measurements in real-world traffic conditions on Hungary’s M0 motorway:
