Public Perceptions And Preferences Towards Shared Autonomous Vehicles In Developing Countries

The rapid pace of private transportation has been considered one of the main causes of the traffic congestions,traffic accidents and environmental problems in developed and developing countries.Transportation sector itself responsible 27% of total greenhouse gas(GHG)emissions.The 90% of traffic accidents occur due to human errors.In the coming years,shared autonomous vehicles(SAVs)are emerging as a new concept of mobility in public transportation which would provide the same level of convenience and benefits of a private vehicle to travelers without the costs of ownership and responsibilities.SAVs have potential to break the dominance of private car ownership.It has been argued that SAVs can revolutionize the transportation systems,travel demands and our current way of life.Although SAVs are likely to first be introduced in developed countries,its potential application and market in developing countries cannot be ignored.This study aims to investigate the public attitude and the influential factors which can affect public acceptance of SAVs across two different cultures and economies of developing countries,namely Pakistan and China.As SAVs are not commercially available in the market yet;a stated preference survey was conducted to deeply understand the traveler’s behavior and choice preferences among alternatives.The questions were asked regarding awareness,interest in new technology,choice preferences,and socio-demographics.A total of 1058 valid responses were gathered in which 612 and 446 from Lahore City,Pakistan and Dalian City,China,respectively.The multinomial logit model(MNL)and the mixed multinomial logit model(MMNL)were used for data analysis and interpretations.The results showed that the MMNL model was slightly better fit with the data,as compared to the MNL model.The major findings of this study were the generic attributes including walking distance,travel time,and travel costs were found significant in Lahore and Dalian.In terms of sociodemographic attributes,such as age,gender,and income were found significant for SAVs in both cities.The results indicated that employed persons were more willing to adopt SAVs in China.Moreover,the study revealed that the people who did not have a private car and possessed a driver’s license were highly prone to use SAVs in Lahore City.This study provides the benchmark for policy-makers to make effective policies for the future implementation of SAVs.