Measuring data sharing intention and its association with the acceptance of connected vehicles

Abstract

Transportation agencies and researchers are optimistic about the potential use of data collected from connected vehicles (CVs) for a variety of traffic and transportation applications. However, the literature lacks the evaluation of data sharing intention of the public for CV applications and its relationship with CV acceptance. This study investigated this gap by conducting a questionnaire survey of 2400 US adults. The results showed that the intention to share CV data depends upon the use of data but not the type of data. The possible uses of CV data were found to be grouped under four categories: driver information, congestion assessment and reduction, and pavement and infrastructure assessment and improvement (ICP); enforcement of traffic rules and fees based on usage (EF); roadside assistance and crash investigation (RC); and research purposes (RP). The data sharing intention for these four data uses vary, though with some commonality, which reflects the overall data sharing intention in CV technology (CVT). In addition, it was found that data privacy and security issues of CVT lower the data sharing intention and CV acceptance. Thus, a number of ways to improve CV acceptance by minimizing the data issues of CVT are discussed. Significant differences in perception of data privacy and security, data sharing intention, and CV acceptance were observed for individuals of different socio-economic and driving-related characteristics.