Mindful People’s preference for Different Services of Autonomous Vehicles in China

Abstract

This paper draws from people’s choices of different services in autonomous vehicles to generate new insights about their acceptance of autonomous vehicles to meet their mobility needs. This article highlights the relationship between people’s mindfulness and their choice of the following applications of autonomous driving technology: self-driving-uber, car-sharing (Car2go), subway/rail, rental car, paratransit, self-owned autonomous car, self-driving car subscription, and self-driving bus. A quantitative analysis shows that in Chinese metropolitan areas, mindful people’s trust, health situations, travel costs, knowledge of autonomous vehicles, and their willingness to change their travel mode are significantly related to their choosing autonomous paratransit as their preferred mode. Travel costs have a significant positive effect on participants’ preference for autonomous vehicles, while income shows a significant negative impact. These findings indicate that using shared autonomous vehicles in paratransit services can improve high travel costs and low-income people’s trust in autonomous vehicles.