Abstract
The current literature on public perceptions of autonomous vehicles focuses on potential users and the target market. However, autonomous vehicles need to operate in a mixed traffic condition, and it is essential to consider the perceptions of road users, especially vulnerable road users. This paper builds explicitly on the limitations of previous studies that did not include a wide range of road users, especially vulnerable road users who often receive less priority. Therefore, this paper considers the perceptions of vulnerable road users towards sharing roads with autonomous vehicles. The data were collected from 795 people. Extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) and random forests are used to select the most influential independent variables. Then, a decision tree-based model is used to explore the effects of the selected most effective variables on the respondents who approve the use of public streets as a proving ground for autonomous vehicles. The results show that the effect of autonomous vehicles on traffic injuries and fatalities, being safe to share the road with autonomous vehicles, the Elaine Herzberg accident and its outcome, and maximum speed when operating in autonomous are the most influential variables. The results can be used by authorities, companies, policymakers, planners, and other stakeholders.
Highlights
Most of the studies related to public perceptions of autonomous vehicles focus on potential users
This paper explores the perceptions of bicyclists and pedestrians to fill the gap of previous studies that did not include a wide range of road users, especially vulnerable road users
The SHAP values can be estimated for each class in the dependent variable. These values were used to find the most effective variables for respondents who approve the use of public streets as a proving ground for autonomous vehicles
Summary
Most of the studies related to public perceptions of autonomous vehicles focus on potential users. Silberg et al [1] conducted a survey in California, New. Jersey, and found the elderly and young people (from 18 to 25 years old) as the most potential users. Found the elderly and young people (from 18 to 25 years old) as the most potential users They found that providing incentives, such as designated lanes, was an important factor for adopting autonomous vehicles. Some of these studies explored the real presence of autonomous vehicles as a mobility option. Begg [2] explored the opinions of transportation experts in the U.K. about the real presence of autonomous vehicles on public roads. The experts suggested 2025 for level 4 and 2040 for level 5
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