An exploratory investigation of public perceptions towards key benefits and concerns from the future use of flying cars

Abstract

The imminent introduction of flying cars in the traffic fleet is anticipated to modify the mobility patterns of urban commuters. Flying cars' hybrid operation on the ground and in the air, in conjunction with their (semi-) automated capabilities, may lead to more appealing trip considerations, such as travel time, fuel consumption, or environmental emissions, as well as to the emergence of new sources of concerns for the potential users. In this context, the future adoption of flying cars is directly associated with individuals' perceptions of the benefits and concerns arising from the use of flying cars. This paper aims to identify the perceptual patterns of individuals towards travel time, cost and environmental benefits, as well as towards challenges arising from key flying cars operational characteristics. To that end, grouped random parameters bivariate probit models of individuals' perceptions are estimated using data collected from an online survey of 692 individuals. The statistical analysis shows that a number of sociodemographic, behavioral, and attitudinal characteristics affect respondents' expectations and concerns towards the adoption and implementation of flying cars. Even though individuals' perceptions are anticipated to undergo substantial changes until the introduction of flying cars in the traffic fleet, the findings of this work may shed more light on perceptual nuances with critical effect on public interest about the adoption of flying cars.

An exploratory investigation of public perceptions towards safety and security from the future use of flying cars in the United States

“…On the contrary, 48.58% and 10.06% respondents indicated that their residences are located at suburban and rural areas, respectively. For additional studies conducted based on the aforementioned survey data, please see Ahmed et al, 2019and Eker et al, (2019a, 2019b. Table 1 presents the responses of individuals' perceptions regarding the safety and security concerns of flying cars as well as regarding potential measures that may enhance the security of flying cars.…”

“…Having semi-or fully-autonomous capabilities for vertical take-off and landing, the operation of flying cars will not significantly differ from conventional personal vehicles during the on-ground operation, and from personal jets during the in-air operation. With provisions for two to four passengers, flying cars are expected to accommodate trips on a distance up to 500 miles, requiring not more than 100 feet (in diameter) clearance zones at the trip origin and destination (see Eker et al, 2019a;Eker et al, 2019b;Ahmed et al, 2019). Recent developments and announcements have shown that flying cars are expected to be introduced in the automotive and aviation market between 2020 and 2025 (Becker, 2017;Oppitz and Tomsu, 2018).…”

The Flying Car—Challenges and Strategies Toward Future Adoption

“…It was conducted in an online platform called SurveyMonkey, and a total of 692 respondents from 19 different countries participated in the survey. A number of exploratory studies have been conducted so far, based on the data collected in the aforementioned survey (Ahmed et al, 2019;Eker et al, 2019Eker et al, , 2020a. Here, we briefly summarize and illustrate the key issues investigated in the aforementioned works, as they will directly influence future policies and regulations associated with emergent technological advances.…”

“…The second analysis (Eker et al, 2020a) provides a preliminary investigation in to the public perceptions of forecasted flying car technologies. Specifically, this effort explores the fact that the future adoption of flying cars is directly associated with individuals' perceptions of the benefits and concerns arising from key operational characteristics related to this complex and technologically disruptive technology.…”

“…Evaluation and statistical analysis of public perception toward a forthcoming transportation technology pose significant methodological challenges in terms of unobserved heterogeneity and temporal instability (Mannering and Bhat, 2014;Mannering et al, 2016;Fountas et al, 2018;Mannering, 2018). A number of recent studies have demonstrated that people's perception toward potential benefits and concerns from the future use of flying cars, as well as the associated safety and security issues are multifaceted, and influenced by a broad range of socio-demographic factors (Eker et al, 2019(Eker et al, , 2020a. In addition, whether general population is willing to embrace and pay for flying cars as personal vehicles and/or as a shared mobility service are major research questions that have been investigated as well (Ahmed et al, 2019;Eker et al, 2020b).…”