Understanding Autonomous Road Public Transport Acceptance: A Study of Singapore

Abstract

This study examines the perceptions of concerns and benefits surrounding autonomous road vehicles deployed for public transport, their relationships with public acceptance, and what the public prefers during its implementation. Surveying 210 participants in Singapore, we found a general acceptance of the deployment of autonomous road public transport in Singapore with agreement that introducing them would be beneficial, particularly in improving public transport reliability and accessibility. However, they reported concerns in the areas of technical-related issues and legal liability. Participants who perceived greater benefits were also likely to report greater acceptance, even after taking into account their concerns and sociodemographic backgrounds. Participants also reported preferences for human operators to continue playing an active role, the government to test the autonomous vehicles extensively before making them available for public use and greater clarity on the legal liability when accidents involving autonomous vehicles occur when autonomous road public transport is eventually implemented.

Understanding acceptance of Autonomous Mobility Services using statistical and deep learning approaches

“…On the other hand, research studies where the respondents are either provided a brief description (Chng and Cheah, 2020) or shown a short animated video at the beginning of data collection (Lavieri and Bhat, 2019;Wong and Rinderer, 2020) to familiarize them with the concept of autonomous mobility, were included in the category of 'acceptability' studies. We observed that both acceptability and acceptance of SAMS has been examined and surveyed from several different dimensions including: (1) behavioral intention or willingness to use or adopt the shared services for personal use and/or recommend others to use that when the services are available in the market;…”

“…Overall, respondents feel positive about AVs and the services the technology offers. However, studies emphasized that acceptance and subsequent adoption of SAMS depends to a large extent on an individual's trust in the technology and its perceived value (Wong and Rinderer, 2020), benefits, and concerns (Chng and Cheah, 2020).…”

“…The majority of the perception studies are conducted considering the application case of AVs as public transit. Perceptions of benefit influence intention to use (Chng and Cheah, 2020) positively while perceptions of concern negatively influence intentions to use SAMS. The primary benefit that was consistently pointed out by the respondents was that introduction and integration of autonomous shuttles with the conventional public transit system will create better travel opportunities for the elderly and disabled people (Portouli et al, 2017;Roche-Cerasi, 2019).…”

“…Interestingly, the absence of staff was not an issue for frequent users of autonomous shuttle services in Trikala, Greece (Portouli et al, 2017). Vehicle operational safety and technical issues (e.g., traffic crashes caused by technical errors, confusion when an unprecedented situation occurs) were the other top concerns voiced by the respondents (Chng and Cheah, 2020;Feys et al, 2020;Dong et al, 2019;Lopez-lambas and Alonso, 2019;Roche-Cerasi, 2019;Bansal et al, 2016). However, in some studies, respondents agreed that there was less risk of a traffic crash for autonomous transit than for conventional transit (Portouli et al, 2017;Salonen, 2018).…”

“…However, in some studies, respondents agreed that there was less risk of a traffic crash for autonomous transit than for conventional transit (Portouli et al, 2017;Salonen, 2018). Among others, respondents expressed concerns about potential hazards ensuing from AVs sharing the roadway with pedestrians (Battistini et al, 2020) and conventional vehicles (Bansal et al, 2016;Battistini et al, 2020), particularly in complex urban situations (Feys et al, 2020), legal liabilities in case of a traffic crash (Chng and Cheah, 2020), increased investment costs for vehicles and infrastructural improvement (Lopez-Lambas and Alonso, 2019), potential reduction in funding for traditional transit (Battistini et al, 2020), job loss due to automation (Tussyadiah et al, 2017), and affordability of the service (Bansal et al, 2016).…”