Citation

Wang S, Li Z, Wang Y, Aaron Wyatt D. Transp. Res. A Policy Pract. 2022; 165: 376-394.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.tra.2022.09.015

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Although existing research identified influences of age and gender on Automated Vehicle (AV) acceptance, the underlying reasons were not revealed. A potential reason is that age and gender are exogenous variables, which do not change by other variables. There must exist endogenous variables, such as the built environment and personal factors, such as affordability, travel needs, exposure to AV knowledge, acting as mediating factors that bridge the exogenous variables and AV acceptance. However, these mediating effects have not been discovered, validated, and quantified. Therefore, this paper provides a new viewpoint in unveiling how ages and genders influence acceptance of AV by quantitatively revealing hidden mediating effects focusing on the built environment and personal factors. A statewide survey was conducted in Kentucky. Besides demographical information, respondents' personal information such as travel needs, affordability, exposure to AV knowledge, and the built environment were collected.

RESULTS reveal that males with high levels of travel needs and affordability better accept AV due to higher familiarity and more experience riding AV. Younger adults are more likely to have higher AV acceptance levels than older adults because younger adults tend to live in an urban setting with higher exposure levels to AV technology.

RESULTS suggest that experience in riding an AV, the most influential factor, improves acceptance by 44.8%. The research informs transportation agencies of a better understanding of how people of different ages and genders accept AV.

Language: en

Keywords

Acceptance; Automated vehicles; Demographical factors; Mechanisms; Mediating effects; Structural equation modeling