What influences intention to use a first-mile/last-mile automated shuttle service in a suburban area? A case study in Toronto, Canada

Chelsea A. DeGuzman, Toka S. Mostafa, Kareem Othman, Birsen Donmez, Baher Abdulhai, Amer Shalaby and Jennifer Niece

Transportation Planning and Technology, 2025, vol. 48, issue 3, 536-554

Abstract: We surveyed the public in 2021 about a temporary first-mile/last-mile (FMLM) automated shuttle trial (planned for operation on public roads) in Toronto, Canada, before its deployment for public use. Our objectives were to investigate predictors of intention-to-use in a mixed traffic context in Canada and whether factors affecting the likelihood of trying the shuttle differed from those affecting the intended frequency of use. Our results showed that higher perceived usefulness, positive attitude towards the service, and higher trust in the shuttle capabilities significantly predicted both measures, but age was a significant (negative) predictor only for the intended frequency of use. This difference in demographic effects for the two examined measures suggests that future research should assess intention-to-use in more detail. Our results can also inform strategies to promote future automated shuttle trials. For example, informational campaigns to promote trust in the shuttle’s capabilities and highlight the benefits of the service may improve intention-to-use.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/03081060.2024.2401507 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:transp:v:48:y:2025:i:3:p:536-554

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/GTPT20

DOI: 10.1080/03081060.2024.2401507

Access Statistics for this article

Transportation Planning and Technology is currently edited by Dr. David Gillingwater

More articles in Transportation Planning and Technology from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().