An exploration of the preferences and mode choice behavior between autonomous demand-responsive transit and traditional buses

Abstract

With the increasing advancement in autonomous driving techniques, autonomous demand-responsive transit (ADRT) is a newly emerging sustainable transport mode for the future, that will provide more flexible services to public users. ADRT has the merits, among others, of flexible stops and routes, and comfortable seats, while at the same time involving risks because of the vehicles being driverless. This paper particularly investigates users’ preferences and attitudes towards ADRT, and mode choice behavior between ADRT buses and traditional buses. A survey with Likert scale statements and SP choice scenarios is designed and conducted to explore users’ attitudes towards the safety risks of autonomous vehicles (AVs), social concerns, service flexibility concerns when using AVs, interest in new things, and shuttle mode choice. An Integrated Choice and Latent Variable (ICLV) model is adopted to explore users’ psychological factors through latent variables and to integrate them into mode choice behavioral modeling. Estimated results indicate that users’ attitudes towards AV safety risks, their social concerns, and their flexibility concerns with ADRT strongly influence their mode choices and are strongly related to sociodemographic and travel-related factors such as age, gender, income, education, number of family members, etc. In general, a young age, a high education level, a higher income, private car ownership, and better knowledge of AVs are positively related to attitudes towards ADRT. Females, users from large families, and users with driving licenses or long commuting times are less willing to adopt ADRT. Outcomes of this study evidence significant heterogeneities among users and can be highly valuable for policymakers, e.g. government authorities, in providing social support and designing policies targeting specific population groups. This will be beneficial in attracting more users to this emerging mobility service and contributing to sustainable urban development.