As connected, electric, and autonomous vehicle (AV) services are developed for cities, the research is conclusive that the use of these services must be shared to achieve maximum efficiency. Yet, few agencies have prioritised designing an AV system that focuses on dynamic ridepooling, and there remains a gap in the understanding of what makes people willing to share their rides. However, in 2017, the Australian transport authority Transport for New South Wales launched over a dozen trials for on-demand, shared public transport, including AVs. In this paper, we investigate the user willingness-to-share, based on experiences from one of these trials. Four focus groups (19 participants in total) were held in New South Wales with active users of either the trialled on-demand dynamic ridepooling service (Keoride) or commercial ridepooling (UberPool). Through thematic analysis of the focus group conversations, the cost, comfort, convenience, safety, community culture, and trust in authority emerged as factors that influenced the willingness-to-share. When presented with driverless scenarios, the focus group participants had significant concerns about the unknown behaviour of their co-passengers, revealing sharing anxiety as a significant barrier to the adoption of shared AVs. This paper identifies previously disregarded factors that influence the adoption of AVs and dynamic ridepooling and offers insights on how potential users’ sharing anxiety can be mitigated.

Focus groups on shared, autonomous vehicles (SAVs) in New South Wales expressed “sharing anxiety”—an intense concern about the prospect of sharing their mobility journey with strangers, without a driver or authority figure present. This presents a significant barrier to the acceptance of SAVs, particularly autonomous public and on-demand transport (ODT), which is a major focus for Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW). Given this potential barrier, we interviewed (N = 13) operators, academics, and regulators with TfNSW to assess their role and abilities in overcoming sharing anxiety. However, our findings revealed a relative lack of awareness from experts in the mobility industry about the existence of sharing anxiety in users, suggesting additional barriers to adoption. We make suggestions for policy considerations for stakeholders that could mitigate sharing anxiety: promoting dynamic ridepooling products in commercial services, using tax breaks as incentivization; requiring ODT services and operators in jurisdiction to use a standardized, unified interface for users (“single-app”); shared, on-demand transport services likely need longer incubation/pilot periods in order for the sharing behavior to become culturally established. We conclude with a reflection on how COVID-19 has impacted the development of shared mobility and suggest further exploration in policy implementation. © 2021 by the authors. 

S3-projektet handlar om att testa delade, elektrifierade och automatiserade skyttelbussar för att demonstrera hur dessa nya transportlösningar kan stimulera och stödja en förtätning av staden.Inom projektet har stadsutvecklare, näringsliv, akademi och offentlig sektor samlats för att gemensamt utforma och prova nya mobilitetskoncept för den första- och sista kilometern av resan. Rapporten beskriver den första fasen av projektet, från maj 2017 till och med december 2019, där skyttelbussarna testats vid Lindholmen Science Park, Chalmers campus Johanneberg samt i Härryda centrum. För att stärka projektet har arbete även utförts kring kompletterande mobilitetstjänster, öppen innovation, utvärdering, affärsmodell, färdplan, molninfrastruktur samt event och kommunikation kopplat till initiativet. Efter utmanande processer av projektering och tillståndsansökan lyckades testerna genomföras på vad som av teknik- och fordonsleverantörerna ansågs vara den mest utmanande rutten i världen som dessa fordon hittills kört på. Samtidigt är mognadsgraden för teknik och helhetstjänst fortfarande relativt låg, och kombinerat med givna säkerhetsprioriteringar lämnas en del att önska vad gäller grundläggande parametrar som hastighet och komfort. Dessutom innebär nuvarande tillståndskrav på säkerhetsoperatör ombord på fordonen begränsningar vad gäller till exempel hållbara affärsmodeller och möjligheten att studera vissa användarförhållanden. Tack till medverkande parter och finansiärer med ett särskilt tack till Vinnova, Drive Sweden och Lindholmen Science Park som gjort detta projekt möjligt. Tack till Transportstyrelsen, Trafikkontoret, Polisen och Chalmersfastigheter för snabba beslutsvägar och till Atrium Ljungberg för lånet av garageplats. Slutligen önskar projektet rikta ett stort tack till samtliga som varit med och testat skyttlarna.

A user acceptance questionnaire study was carried out during the first phase of the Shared Shuttle Services (S3) pilot project in Gothenburg Sweden. Autonomous vehicles in the form of shuttle buses (AV shuttles) embody three major developments in transportation: mobility solutions that are electrified, shared, and automated. The adoption of these three developments is closely connected to the UN SDG (11) Sustainable cities and communities and in order to achieve any broader societal benefits, it is crucial to understand and address user acceptance and adoption of these services in real-life settings. The questionnaire included attitudinal and context specific questions, resulting in overall high ratings except for perceived speed and comfort. Still, the main reasons for not wanting to use the AV shuttle services could be linked to performance expectancy, route reasons and effort expectancy. Future implementations of AV shuttles will need to address this in order to expect any widespread adoption. 

What is the most effective way to influence travellers’ behaviour using positive incentives andrewards? The European Project EMPOWER implements a diverse strategy to significantly reducethe use of conventionally fuelled vehicles (CFV) in urban areas, through influencing the behaviourof car drivers. The aim is to incentivise users of CFVs to change their behaviour with positiveincentives, thus rewarding them, rather than penalizing them, for making sustainable transportationchoices. This paper targets the setup and effects of the experiments performed in Sweden,including an expansion of the service from the main Living Lab in Gothenburg to other cities inSweden, where users are incentivized through a smartphone app called SMARTiSverige. In thetwo-step experiment presented in this paper, we used the app to collect data to develop challenges,communicate personalized challenges to users, and communicate the points achieved if thechallenges are completed successfully. Digital and physical rewards were then distributed to theusers as a part of the complete scheme system. In addition to an account of the experiment andachieved results, this paper also discusses the implication of this research on the existing body ofknowledge regarding incentives, and elaborates on how the lessons learned from this Living Labcould be used to scale up services in future sites for rewarding sustainable transport choices andimpacting the use of CFVs.