Do Americans differ in their willingness to ride in a driverless bus?

The purpose of this study was to examine a person’s willingness to ride (WTR) in an autonomous bus. Across two studies, we presented participants with hypothetical scenarios about riding in a driverless city or inter-city bus. We manipulated who was onboard the bus (participant, romantic partner, or child), the location of the bus (seven different countries), and the type of driver (human or driverless). In Study 1, participants were less willing to ride a driverless city bus compared to one driven by a human driver. In Study 2, participants’ WTR scores were influenced by participant gender, the person on board, and location, with scores dropping dramatically when the bus was located outside of the USA, or when a child was on board. The current data suggest that Americans are not entirely ready for driverless buses, mainly when someone they care about is on board, or the bus is located outside the USA.