The acceptability value of autonomous vehicles: A quantitative analysis of the willingness to pay for shared autonomous vehicles (SAVs) mobility services

The massive diffusion of autonomous vehicles will allow making transportation systems safer, efficient and less pollutant. Nevertheless, there are still some obstacles in the adoption of driverless vehicles of a technological, normative, ethical and social nature. Many surveys observed a priori reluctance towards autonomous vehicles, due to their implications for personal safety. This reluctance could mean a sort of lack of trust (unwillingness to use/pay) that several authors have observed, but only few have measured. Although the main interest of manufacturers/policy-makers is the diffusion of autonomous vehicles in the private car market, it is probably in the public transport sector that this technology will be used first. The aim of the research was to propose an estimation of the value of this reluctance to change (acceptability) towards shared autonomous services. A discrete choice experiment was performed in Naples (Italy) among bus/taxi users. A Mixed Logit model with random coefficients and panel data was estimated. The results show that the average transport user has an a priori reluctance to use fully-automated bus/taxi of −2.31 Euro/trip. Category-specific estimates were also performed resulting that male 18–40 year-old (>40 year-old) have a reluctance in using driverless transit services 53% (36%) lower than females. Of interest are the results relative to those who commonly use on-board automation features, for which a positive willingness to pay for driverless vehicles was estimated (+1.21 Euro/trip). Obtained results strongly suggest that the main barrier preventing mass adoption of autonomous vehicles may also be psychological besides technological.