Moving toward a More Sustainable Autonomous Mobility, Case of Heterogeneity in Preferences

Iman Farzin, Mohammadhossein Abbasi, Elżbieta Macioszek (), Amir Reza Mamdoohi and Francesco Ciari
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Iman Farzin: Transportation Planning Department, Faculty of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran 14115-111, Iran
Mohammadhossein Abbasi: Transportation Planning Department, Faculty of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran 14115-111, Iran
Elżbieta Macioszek: Department of Transport Systems, Traffic Engineering and Logistics, Faculty of Transport and Aviation Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, Krasińskiego 8 Street, 40-019 Katowice, Poland
Amir Reza Mamdoohi: Transportation Planning Department, Faculty of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran 14115-111, Iran
Francesco Ciari: Department of Civil, Geological and Mining Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal University, Montreal, QC H3T 1J4, Canada

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Autonomous vehicles (AVs) have a number of potential advantages, although some research indicates that this technology may increase dependence on private cars. An alternative approach to bringing such technology to market is through autonomous taxis (ATs) and buses, which can assist in making transportation more sustainable. This paper aims at examining the role of attitudinal, travel-related, and individual factors in preferences for a modal shift from conventional cars toward ATs and exclusive-lane autonomous buses (ELABs), exploring the existence of heterogeneity and its possible sources. The proposed mixed logit model with a decomposition of random coefficients uses 1251 valid responses from a stated preference survey distributed in Tehran, in 2019. Results show that there is significant taste variation among individuals with respect to ATs’ travel costs, ELABs’ travel times, and walking distances to ELAB stations. Furthermore, exploring the sources of heterogeneity indicates that women are more sensitive to ATs’ travel costs and walking distances to ELAB stations while they are less sensitive to ELABs’ travel times. Moreover, travel time in discretionary activities reduces the utility of ELABs more than it does in mandatory activities. Transportation authorities can use these findings to establish more effective policies for the successful implementation of AVs.

Keywords: autonomous bus; autonomous taxi; mixed logit; preference heterogeneity; shifting behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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