Users’ Acceptance of Connected and Automated Shuttles for Tourism Purposes: A Survey Study

Roberto Battistini, Luca Mantecchini and Maria Nadia Postorino
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Roberto Battistini: Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental and Materials Engineering—DICAM, University of Bologna, Viale del Risorgimento 2, 40136 Bologna, Italy
Luca Mantecchini: Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental and Materials Engineering—DICAM, University of Bologna, Viale del Risorgimento 2, 40136 Bologna, Italy
Maria Nadia Postorino: Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental and Materials Engineering—DICAM, University of Bologna, Viale del Risorgimento 2, 40136 Bologna, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 23, 1-17

Abstract: In recent years, autonomous vehicles have received increasing attention and many studies in the literature have discussed the potentialities and the opportunities they could offer. Despite the potential benefits, mainly related to the expected reduction in accidents and congestion phenomena as well as the potentially improved social inclusion of people with driving difficulties (e.g., people with physical disabilities or elderly people), many aspects remain to be addressed, mainly for understanding users’ acceptance in the case of collective transport vehicles. This study proposes an analysis based on a survey aimed at exploring user’s preferences with respect to the use of autonomous shuttles (ASs) for tourism purposes. The main correlations between the variables considered and the preferences of potential users have been discussed. Interviewees expressed high confidence in AS technology, although the analyses performed about willingness to pay show that users give more relevance to the provided transport services than the AS technology.

Keywords: connected and autonomous vehicles; travel habits; tourism; sustainable urban transport (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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