Abstract
Empirical studies show that autonomous vehicles can contribute to sustainability goals when rides are shared. However, sharing rides with strangers in shared autonomous mobility-on-demand systems (SAMODSs) might impede the adoption of these systems. The present study addresses the research question whether a comprehensive information provision about fellow passengers could increase acceptability of the shared rides in SAMODSs. A discrete choice experiment (N = 154) assessed the potential of different levels of information on fellow passengers: (1) no information, (2) name, (3) picture, (4) rating, (5) combination of name, picture and rating. The results show that the overall compensation demands for sharing a ride was a reduction of approximately 25% of the nonshared reference price. The provision of detailed information about fellow travelers proved beneficial for reducing the compensation demands of travelers while the provision of a name only resulted in higher compensation demands. A significant effect of the fellow passengers’ gender indicated that male gender information was related to a higher refusal rate than female gender information. This was particularly relevant when only names were presented. The study provides first empirical insights into the psychological factors concerning the emerging trend of shared mobility.
Highlights
The present study aims to examine the effect of four potential determinants on the willingness to share rides with fellow travellers in shared autonomous mobilityon-demand systems (SAMODSs) and their potential interplay: (1) travel time, (2) degree of vehicle automation, (3) quality of information on fellow passengers and (4) gender of the fellow passenger
The WTA was assessed by the amount respondents are willing to pay for a shared ride in an SAMODS compared to the reference of a nonshared ride
The results of the data analysis are presented for the effects of the four independent variables: travel time, degree of vehicle automation, quality of information on fellow passengers and gender of the fellow passenger
Summary
Driverless vehicles of SAE level 5 [1] that are capable of self-driving under all conditions [2] are predicted to be a promising future because they will most probably contribute to a transition towards a more efficient, safe and convenient transport system [3,4,5] and are supposed to fundamentally change the way we travel and live [6]. The combination of autonomous driving technology and mobility-on-demand systems is considered to be a beneficial synergy for reaching sustainability goals [3]. The paper defines shared autonomous mobility-on-demand systems (SAMODSs) as autonomous, shared public transport services with flexible routing, which implies additional journey time due to the pick-up and drop-off of other passengers. The interest in SAMODSs, called SAMS [15], is reflected in the considerable number of simulation studies assessing the economic and ecological effects of shared driverless mobility-on-demand systems [16] as well as impacts on transport systems and traffic [9,17,18,19]. Giving regard to the expected benefits of SAMODSs for reaching sustainability goals in transport, the factors that affect the willingness of future users to adopt these systems must be considered in the design of these systems. The study’s objective is to assess the effectiveness of information provision about fellow travellers to improve travellers’ willingness to use the service
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