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Title:

Transit User Perception of Driverless Buses

Accession Number:

01626841

Record Type:

Component

Abstract:

This project reports the results of a stated preference survey of regular transit users’ willingness-to-ride and concerns about driverless buses in the Philadelphia region. Of the 891 surveyed members of University of Pennsylvania’s transit pass benefit program, 97% use transit two or more days per week. As automated technologies advance, driverless buses may offer significant efficiency, safety, and operational improvements over traditional bus services. However, unfamiliarity with automated vehicle technology may challenge its acceptance among the general public and slow the adoption of new technologies. Using a mixed logit modeling framework, this research examines which types of transit users are most willing to ride in driverless buses and whether having a transit employee on board to monitor the vehicle operations and/or provide customer service matters. Results show that fully two-thirds of respondents express a willingness to ride in a driverless bus when a transit employee is on board to monitor vehicle operations and provide customer service. By contrast, only 13 percent would agree to ride a bus without an employee on board. Males and those in younger age groups (18 to 34) are more willing to ride in driverless buses than females and those in older age groups. Findings suggest that, so long as a transit employee is onboard, many transit passengers will willingly board early generation automated buses. An abrupt shift to buses without employees on board, by contrast, will likely alienate many transit users.

Supplemental Notes:

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AP040 Standing Committee on Automated Transit Systems.

Monograph Accession #:

01618707

Report/Paper Numbers:

17-04370

Language:

English

Corporate Authors:

Transportation Research Board

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 United States

Authors:

Dong, Xiaoxia
DiScenna, Matthew
Guerra, Erick

Pagination:

15p

Publication Date:

2017

Conference:

Transportation Research Board 96th Annual Meeting

Location: Washington DC, United States
Date: 2017-1-8 to 2017-1-12
Sponsors: Transportation Research Board

Media Type:

Digital/other

Features:

References; Tables

Uncontrolled Terms:

Driverless operation

Geographic Terms:

Philadelphia (Pennsylvania)

Subject Areas:

Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Vehicles and Equipment

Source Data:

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2017 Paper #17-04370

Files:

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Created Date:

Dec 8 2016 11:40AM