Automated shuttle buses (ASBs) hold significant potential for improving public transportation by enhancing urban mobility and sustainability. However, public trust in ASB and people’s intention to use them may depend on factors such as age and expectations of ASB behavior. This study examined how trust in ASBs’ capabilities influences the intention to use them and expectations of their braking behavior, specifically from the perspective of pedestrians and cyclists. Additionally, the study explored how age affects this relationship. Five hundred participants completed an online questionnaire assessing trust and behavioral intention to use ASBs. Participants then viewed video scenarios depicting ASBs interacting with pedestrians and cyclists and reported their expectations regarding the ASBs’ braking responses to prevent collisions. Structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that trust positively predicted both the intention to use ASBs and expectations of their braking performance. Age was negatively associated with trust but did not predict intention to use or braking expectations. These findings show that trust is a critical factor in ASB adoption across age groups. To foster trust and encourage the adoption of ASBs, developers, providers, and policymakers, should prioritize delivering reliable, transparent, and user-friendly information and services that demonstrate ASBs’ safety and performance.

Autonomous vehicles that operate on public roads need to be predictable to others, including vulnerable road users. In this study, we asked participants to take the perspective of videotaped pedestrians and cyclists crossing paths with an automated shuttle bus, and to (1) judge whether the bus would stop safely in front of them and (2) report whether the bus's actual stopping behavior accorded with their expectations. The results show that participants expected the bus to brake safely in approximately two thirds of the human-vehicle interactions, more so to pedestrians than cyclists, and that they tended to underestimate rather than overestimate the bus's capability to yield in ways that they considered as safe. These findings have implications for the design and implementation of automated shuttle bus services.