Autonomous Vehicles in Rural Communities: Is It Feasible?

Abstract

Although much research has been devoted to the effects of autonomous vehicles (AVs) on urban areas, little work has been dedicated to the potential impacts of AVs in rural areas, especially related to feasibility and accessibility <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref1" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">[1]</xref> . Due to the lack of reliable public transportation, automobiles play a crucial role for rural residents to commute for work, shopping, and other reasons. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, rural households have on average more vehicles than urban households <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref2" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">[2]</xref> . In 2015, the average rural household spent about 13.7% of their income on vehicle purchases, maintenance, and repairs in comparison to 8.3% for urban households <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref2" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">[2]</xref> . As the cost of vehicles is one of the top concerns for many rural residents <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref5" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">[5]</xref> , there will be concerns about the affordability of AVs in these areas as their initial prices might be high <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref1" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">[1]</xref> . Given the current struggles with affording and maintaining vehicles for rural residents, rural residents may not be able to afford or maintain personal AVs, at least not in the beginning. There is also a concern whether rural communities will have access to funding to build the necessary transportation infrastructure to deploy AVs.