Effect of riding experience on changing opinions toward connected and autonomous vehicle safety – Evidence from field experiments

Abstract

Connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) are considered one of the most promising mobility technologies to be implemented in the near future. A recent study (Shi et al. 2021) investigated how riding experience influences perceptions of autonomous vehicle safety through field experiments. This study used the same dataset as Shi et al. (2021) but focused on investigating the factors influencing people’s initial opinions toward CAV safety and how these opinions will change following a successful CAV ride. A random parameter ordered probit model was adopted to analyze people’s initial opinions before the CAV ride, which resolves the fixed parameter estimations limitation of the traditional ordered probit model. Furthermore, a hierarchical ordered probit model was used to study people’s opinion changes after experiencing the CAV ride, overcoming the fixed thresholds limitation of the traditional ordered probit model. Based on the estimation results, we identified the characteristics of prospective CAV users, such as individuals who drive alone, have Auto Pilot ride experience, have high income, have a long commute time, and have high education levels. Therefore, the needs of these demographics should be well considered in future CAV technology development. We also found that high-education individuals tend to have more negative initial opinions regarding CAV safety compared with others. However, their opinions are more likely to shift toward the positive side after experiencing a successful test ride. In addition, we found that although CAV technologies can enhance traffic efficiency through communication with traffic signals, this improvement may raise people’s concerns about the safety of CAVs. The results obtained from this research provide valuable managerial and regulatory insights for the future development and popularization of CAV technologies.