Autonomous Shuttle Operating on Highways and Gravel Roads in Rural America: A Demonstration Study

Abstract

The safe integration of Automated Driving Systems (ADS) into the nation’s on-road transportation system, particularly in rural areas, could vastly improve overall quality of life for a rapidly growing segment of the US population. This paper describes findings from the first half (i.e., three of six phases) of a demonstration project called “ADS for Rural America”. The goal of this project is to conduct a series of demonstrations that utilizes an autonomous shuttle to show how older adults (≥65 years old) could be transported from their rural homes to other locations in rural areas, as well as an urban center. This paper examines older adults’ perceptions of automation before and after riding in an autonomous shuttle and their ratings of anxiety throughout the ride as they experience particular road types and maneuvers. After riding in the shuttle, older adults expressed decreased suspicion, increased trust, and increased reliability of ADS compared to baseline. Older adults reported low levels of anxiety during the 90 min ride in the shuttle. To promote the adoption and acceptance of ADS, older adults should be exposed to this technology.

Perceptions of Autonomous Shuttles for Adults With Spinal Cord Injuries

“…The primary strengths of this study were that the participants' perceptions were assessed with a valid and reliable AVUPS, before and after riding in the AS that operated on public roads with ambient traffic, and the strict inclusion of participants with an SCI. This is in contrast to previous studies that solicited PwDs' perceptions of AV without a lived experience in an AV (Etminani-Ghasrodashti et al, 2021;Hwang et al, 2020) or included adults with developmental or visual disabilities (Feeley et al, 2020) or physical and visual disabilities (Hwang et al, 2020;Mason et al, 2022). Researchers often incorporate universal design principles to investigate transportation barriers in a heterogeneous sample of PwDs (Etminani-Ghasrodashti et al, 2021;Feeley et al, 2020;Hwang et al, 2020).…”

“…Individuals with an SCI must overcome additional barriers to accessing transportation, and thus are likely to have the most to gain from adopting AVs (Haboucha et al, 2017). For PwDs and older adults, barriers to using AS include distrust, equipment failure, cybersecurity, and lack of control of the vehicle (Classen et al, 2021; Mason et al, 2022; Taeihagh & Lim, 2019). It is unclear whether individuals with SCI will have these same barriers to AS adoption as their disability specifically impairs ambulation and community mobility.…”

Develop and Validate a Survey to Assess Adult’s Perspectives on Autonomous Ridesharing and Ridehailing Services

“…Results from demonstration projects cannot be directly compared as they used different conceptual frameworks, surveys, routes, automated road transport systems, and private vs. shared services. For example, demonstration projects have used a Tesla Model X [32], low-speed autonomous shuttle in a 10 min closed loop without ambient traffic in the U.S. [6], a retrofitted Ford Transit operating on the interstate, mixed traffic, and gravel roads in the rural U.S. on a 50-mile loop [33], and six automated shuttles operating on a dedicated lane on a 2.5 km route in Greece [34]. Although there are numerous variables to consider, the use of a validated survey may be the first step in making comparisons between demonstration projects.…”

Urban Mobility Dynamics in the Realm of Autonomous Shuttles on Dedicated Lanes: A Microscopic Synthesis

“…Conversely, traffic performance demonstrates considerable improvement once the MPR exceeds 30%. User behavior experiments involving AS pilot studies targeting transportdisadvantaged elderly individuals in Japan [27], Rural America [28], and the Republic of Korea [29] illustrated a decline in skepticism, improvement in trust, and an enhanced perception of reliability following their engagement with the AS service.…”