Stakeholder viewpoints analysis of the autonomous vehicle industry by using multi-actors multi-criteria analysis

Abstract

The availability of autonomous vehicles (AVs) on the market will create a novel situation for every stakeholder. A lot of research has been conducted on developing the AVs and the consequences of having AVs on the market, but comprehensive studies concerning various viewpoints on the introduction of AVs into the market can be scarcely found. This research is examining different actors' viewpoints on the acceptance of privately shared autonomous vehicles (PSAVs). Four groups of stakeholders are identified as the following: users, legislators, operators, and manufacturers. The multi-actor multi-criteria analysis (MAMCA) is used, where the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and the parsimonious AHP (PAHP)methods are applied to evaluate each actor's objectives and criteria. From each group, a representative sample is collected, the actors evaluate a set of pairwise comparison matrices (PCMs), and their consistency is continuously checked. As a result, the objectives and the criteria are ranked and presented. The main finding of the objectives' analysis presents that the safety concerns receive the highest ranking (i.e., weight is 0.085), while the ease of use and the interoperability across the borders have the lowest rankings ((i.e., weight is 0.048, and 0.0515, respectively). The main finding of criteria's analysis shows that ease of use has the lowest ranking (i.e., weight is 0.0024), and the highest rank is related to the reduction in vehicle accidents caused by the malfunction (i.e., weight is 0.0495). Thus, it seems that safety related issues are the most important factor in accepting PSAV. The result of this study is useful for decision-makers and transport planners to form policies, regulations, and guidelines regarding the future implementations of PSAVs before their arrival to the market.