The ‘sharing trap’: A case study of societal and stakeholder readiness for on-demand and autonomous public transport in New South Wales, Australia
2021 (English)In: Sustainability, E-ISSN 2071-1050, Vol. 13, no 17, article id 9574
Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
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.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
MDPI , 2021. Vol. 13, no 17, article id 9574
Keywords [en]
Autonomous public transport, Autonomous vehicles, Demand responsive transport, Sharing anxiety, Transportation policy, autonomy, behavioral response, COVID-19, mobility, public transport, stakeholder, Australia, New South Wales
National Category
Transport Systems and Logistics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-56690DOI: 10.3390/su13179574Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85113927353OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-56690DiVA, id: diva2:1598265
Note
Funding details: 2018-04063; Funding details: VINNOVA; Funding text 1: Funding: This research was funded by Vinnova, the Swedish innovation agency, grant number 2018-04063. The research team was also provided a grant by Transport for New South Wales to University of Sydney Business School, without which the work would not have been possible.
2021-09-282021-09-282023-06-08Bibliographically approved