People’s attitudes toward automated vehicle and transit integration: case study of small urban areas

Previous surveys of people’s attitudes toward automated vehicles (AVs) and transit integration have primarily taken place in large urban areas. AV-transit integration also has a great potential in small urban areas. This paper is based on a survey of people’s attitudes towards AV-transit integration carried out in two small urban areas in the US State of Wisconsin. A total of 266 finished responses were analyzed using text mining, factor analysis, and regression analysis. Results show that respondents know about AVs and driving assistance technologies and welcome AV-transit integration but are unsure about its potential impacts. Technology-savvy respondents were more positive but had more concerns about AV-transit integration than others. Respondents who enjoyed driving were not necessarily against transit, as they were more positive about AV-transit integration and were more willing to use automated buses than those who did not enjoy driving as much. Transit users were more positive toward AV-transit integration than non-transit users.