Maria Takka, “Safety Impact Investigation of an automated shuttle service based on network traffic simulation”, Diploma Thesis, NTUA, School of Civil Engineering, Athens, October 2024.

The aim of this Thesis is to investigate the impact of autonomous minibus service on safety, with traffic simulation. The simulation network represents a part of the city of Athens. Specifically, three scenarios were carried out that differed in terms of the percentage of conventional and autonomous vehicles. For each scenario, vehicle collisions were recorded, in which the time to collision was less than 1,5 seconds. For each such involvement, the traffic conditions and the geometric characteristics of the section of the road network were recorded. For data analysis, polynomial logistic regression models were developed for each scenario. From the application of the models, it emerged that the speed limit, the maximum deceleration of the second vehicle, the difference in vehicle speeds as observed at the minimum time-to-collision, the initial deceleration rate of the second vehicle, the type of conflict and the traffic capacity have a significant influence on the simulated hazard, which indicates critical conditions for the occurrence of a crash.