Investigating the Contributing Factors to Willingness to Share Automated Vehicles with Gender Focus
Investigating the Contributing Factors to Willingness to Share Automated Vehicles with Gender Focus
Project Duration: 12 months
Project Budget (Federal UTC Funds): N/A
Project Budget (Cost-share): N/A
Institution: Arizona State University
Abstract
This study uses a survey collected in four metropolitan areas in the United States (Phoenix, Atlanta, Austin, and Tampa) to understand the attitudinal factors underlying men and women’s willingness to share rides on ridehailing services that use automated vehicles. The study uses a measurement model to classify the attitudinal measures into unobserved latent constructs, and preferences towards owning and driving a vehicle. A Structural Equation Model is then used to measure the effects of gender upon the willingness to share rides in autonomous vehicles, controlling for respondents’ attitudes (latent constructs), current use of mobility-on-demand services, and socioeconomic characteristics. The results of this study are key to ensure that the future of transportation reaches all, regardless of gender. Understanding women’s willingness to engage in autonomous shared rides will enlighten the process of including them in the automated, shared, and electric future. By identifying the different attitudinal traits motivating different groups to engage in shared ridehailing rides, ridehailing service providers can better accommodate their needs, and promote a more egalitarian transportation service. Preliminary results indicate that men’s environmental motivations to use AV shared rides are stronger than women’s, while women’s perception of autonomous vehicles is a stronger predictor of AV ridesharing adoption.