Parents’ Willingness to Allow Their Unaccompanied Children to Use Emerging and Future Travel Modes

Abstract

This study investigated parents’ willingness to allow their unaccompanied child(ren) to use emerging and future travel modes (e.g., rideshare vehicles and automated vehicles). An online survey was completed by 631 Australian respondents (M = 39.2 years, SD = 10.5 years, Male: 36.6%) who reported that they currently lived with one or more children (17 or below). Approximately one-third (37.9%) of the respondents reported a willingness to allow their child to use a rideshare vehicle alone and more than half of the respondents (57.2%) reported a willingness to allow their child to use an automated vehicle alone. Respondents who expressed willingness to allow their child to use a rideshare vehicle alone were more likely to express a willingness to use an automated vehicle alone (79.1%) compared to respondents who were unwilling to use a rideshare vehicle (43.9%), χ2(1) = 75.158, p < 0.001, Phi = 0.345. Two separate logistic regression models revealed key similarities and differences related to respondents’ willingness to allow their unaccompanied child to use both transport modes. Respondents’ willingness to allow their unaccompanied child to use a rideshare vehicle was significantly related to their previous use of a rideshare vehicle with their child, having an optimistic view of technology, annual mileage, their aberrant driving behaviours, and their desire for route-control and assurance features within the rideshare vehicle, χ2(7) = 159.594, p < 0.001. Respondents’ willingness to allow their child to use an automated vehicle alone was significantly related to awareness of automated vehicles, education level, positive views towards technology, seeing technology to be innovative, and requirements for route control features within the automated vehicle, χ2(6) = 113.325, p < 0.001. Despite the potential for emerging or future travel modes to provide additional personal transportation options, these results suggest that Australian parents are unwilling to allow their unaccompanied child to use these modes of transport. These findings will have significant implications for transport planning, particularly in growing communities where pressures on parents to transport their child(ren) to activities and events with minimal adult supervision is increasing.

The role of safety in modal choice and shift: A transport expert perspective in the state of Victoria (Australia)

“…On the other hand, trust also might be a barrier to modal choice as reported by Garrard [ 46 ] that trust in others (for both personal and traffic safety) plays a main barrier to children’s active travel to school and independent mobility. Trust also might be a barrier for children to travel in current or future car-sharing modes [ 47 ].…”

What Makes Parents Consider Shared Autonomous Vehicles as a School Travel Mode?

“…In most prior studies, it has been concluded that fathers are more likely to allow their children to use autonomous mobility as a school travel mode [7,31,32,35]; however, no significant relation was found by Ayala et al [33] or Anania [36]. Parents' education level is another demographic factor that positively influenced their intentions to use AVs in most studies [9,31,32,34]; however, Mao et al [7] found no significant relationship between these two factors. Different and contradictory findings have also been reported for the effect of income on parents' intention.…”

“…The effect of familiarity with automation technology is another demographic factor that has been examined by prior studies. In most of the studies, a significant and positive relation has been found [7,9,31]. The number of children and owning a driving license were other explanatory variables that were considered by Mao et al [7], but no significant associations were found between these variables and parents' intentions to use automation.…”

“…Many children are dependent on their parents or other adults to accompany them to the school [3][4][5], but some parents often feel inconvenienced when transporting their children to and from school because parents' working hours often overlap with their children's school hours, leading to time conflicts [6,7]. But to ensure their children's safety, many parents drive them to and from school [8,9]. On the other hand, commuters and young couples are more interested in autonomous vehicles (AVs) than couples with children.…”

کدام والدین قادر به اظهار نظر در مورد استفاده از خودروی خودران برای سفر تحصیلی فرزندشان هستند؟ (مطالعه موردی شهر کرمان)

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