Perceptions and Adoption of Emerging Transportation Technologies and Residential Preferences

How Do Perceptions and Adoption of Emerging Transportation Technologies Vary by Residential Preferences?

Principal Investigator: Ram M. Pendyala, Director, School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment
Co-Principal Investigator: Sara Khoeini, Assistant Research Professor, School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment
Project Duration: 12 months
​Project Budget (Federal UTC Funds): N/A
Project Budget (Cost-share): N/A
Institution: Arizona State University

Abstract
The transportation industry has been rapidly evolving in recent years and bringing innovations to market to address mobility needs and improve people’s quality of life. Mobility on demand services, such as ride-hailing services for example, have served as an additional modal option to meet transportation demands, especially in places that are poorly served by transit and/or have struggled with first- and last-mile transit connectivity. Such emerging mobility technologies offer the prospect of numerous benefits for the transportation system as a whole in the future. However, the success of these emerging transportation technologies as effective mobility tools depends on who uses the technologies, the way in which they use them, and the extent to which adoption is widespread. When it comes to the future of emerging transportation modes such as ride-hailing services and autonomous vehicles (AVs), various survey-based studies have explored the role of socioeconomics and attitudes in shaping people’s perceptions and adoption of these innovative mobility options. However, the role of residence location and other spatial/geographical attributes has not been explored as much, possibly due to the difficulty in collecting detailed spatial information in surveys. Thus, exploring the relationship between geographical characteristics of the residence location on the one hand, and opinions about and potential usage patterns of emerging modes of transportation on the other hand, remains a topic of much interest. A better understanding of such relationships would help in the design of land use patterns and residential developments of the future that are conducive to the adoption and use of transportation innovations (while minimizing unintended consequences). This research project focuses on this relationship, emphasizing the role of various geographical aspects of the residence location in shaping current use of ride-hailing services and the expected adoption of AVs in the future. Using Structural Equations Modeling (SEM) methods, this study sheds light on the effect of home location geographic characteristics (e.g., population and household density, percent of single and multi-family homes, percent of homes occupied by owners and renters, and road density) on users potential adoption and perceptions of emerging transport modes. The proposed framework utilizes data collected through a Transformative Technologies in Transportation Survey that was conducted in 2019 (before the pandemic) and yielded more than 3,400 participants in four major U.S. metropolitan areas: Phoenix-AZ, Austin-TX, Atlanta-GA, and Tampa-FL. Thoroughly understanding the relationship between land use and geographical attributes, and choices and opinions about ride-hailing services and autonomous vehicles, will help policymakers identify potential zoning, residential development, and land use strategies of the future to ensure these travel modes are successfully adopted by society. The findings of this study will clarify the spatial variability in perceptions and choices related to emerging transport technologies, transferability of data across different locations, and the geographic factors that merit enhanced attention in the future.

Research Products and Implementation

Scope of Work (coming soon)

​Final Report (coming soon)