Consumer acceptance and travel behavior : impacts of automated vehicles : final report.

Details

• Creators:
  Zmud, Johanna ; Sener, Ipek N. ; Wagner, Jason
• Corporate Creators:
  Texas A&M Transportation Institute
• Contributors:
  Trout, Nada D. ; Rodriguez, Irene ; Pang, Hao
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Attitudes
  • Automobile ownership
  • Consumers
  • Intelligent vehicles
  • Mode choice
  • Surveys
  • Travel behavior
• Publication/ Report Number:
  PRC 15-49 F
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States;Texas
• Edition:
  Final report
• Corporate Publisher:
  Texas A&M Transportation Institute
• Abstract:
  This study provides a glimpse into the not-too-distant future by asking people in the general ; population how they would respond to the availability of self-driving vehicles, which might be ; on Texas roadways within a few years. Some elements of the technology are already available in ; vehicles today. Self-parking, adaptive cruise control, and automated braking are all available ; currently. In the near future, vehicles might take over driving completely. ; Transportation planners, researchers, and policy makers have a keen interest in how the market ; for such vehicles will develop. The big promise is their ability to reduce traffic accidents. The ; optimistic view is that such vehicles could also create smoother traffic flow and unlock existing ; capacity on roadways, meaning less road building. This is because intelligent, self-driving ; vehicles may drive more safely and efficiently than human drivers. If a fleet of self-driving cars ; could come to people when needed, it would mean less personal car ownership and fewer ; parking lots. The safety and productivity gains would bring significant economic benefits, but ; the potential societal benefits will not be achieved unless these vehicles are accepted and used by ; a critical mass of drivers. Consumer demand and technological development will determine the ; pace and scale of market development. ; The advent of self-driving vehicles could be truly transformative, but future acceptance and use ; are highly uncertain. Car ownership could change—people might own more or fewer vehicles. ; Residential spatial patterns could change—more people might live farther from or closer to ; downtown. The number of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) could increase or decrease, depending ; on how, when, and why people use self-driving vehicles. Because self-driving vehicles are not ; yet present in the traffic streams, with the exception of a few test vehicles, it is difficult to ; reliably predict future consumer demand. Any purported outcomes are just theoretical at this ; point. Basic questions exist: ; - How likely are people to use self-driving vehicles? ; - What are the factors that influence acceptance and intent to use? ; - What is the appeal of self-driving vehicles for people? ; - In what ways would people change their current travel behavior because of access to self-driving ; vehicles? ; - How might self-driving vehicles on roadways impact traffic and congestion? ; Thus far, answers to these questions have come largely in the form of speculative future visions ; with little or no empirical evidence. This study begins to build an evidence base for ; transportation policy making and decision making. The information derives from an online ; survey and qualitative interviews with Austin metropolitan area residents in May and June 2015. ; The findings are representative of this sample only, which was a microcosm of Austin area ; residents.
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• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/32687/dot_32687_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.44 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:fd226f71729d516ac35a814b8cfaa7a1ac2c3b09b62d7617abf2d5f7b6cd4b2400b8e6f2bcdfe12e53f11f9d2b6ce7a2f04f965ebe4f4bc05ae11f99f126d3c4