Gauging Public Attitudes and Preferences Toward a Hypothetical Future Public Shared Automated Vehicle System: Examining the Roles of Gender, Race, Income, and Health

Abstract

We use data from an originally designed survey instrument administered in the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area to gauge general attitudes and design preferences for a hypothetical shared automated vehicle (SAV) system. Design considerations include seating, payment and booking logistics, security, and extra space and amenities. We pay particular attention to the role of gender, race, health, and income in shaping these attitudes and preferences. Specifically, we use multiple regression models to uncover general willingness-to-use SAV technology, finding that women are overall less comfortable with the technology, Black and Hispanic participants are more willing to pay for SAV technology and generally display lower magnitude preferences for design considerations. Although results are mixed in both sets of analysis for health status, higher income individuals display higher willingness to pay and higher magnitude preferences for design considerations.