Automated vehicles (AV) offer a unique opportunity to improve the safety and efficiency of the transportation system and enhance the mobility of aging and transportation disadvantaged populations simultaneously. However, before this potential can be realized, it is important to develop a greater understanding of aging adults’ travel behavior and attitudes toward AVs to determine how AVs could best meet their travel needs. To this end, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) tasked a multidisciplinary team of researchers from Florida State University to conduct a research project aimed at providing information and guidance on how automated and connected vehicle technology could enhance the mobility of aging populations. This project was divided into four separate, but related, research tasks, including literature reviews of aging adult’s travel behavior and safety, a survey of Floridian’s attitudes toward AVs, and a social media data mining analysis of public perception of AVs. Findings indicated that aging adults have unique travel needs that often are not adequately addressed by today's transportation system. But these mobility problems could be alleviated, in part, by automated vehicle technology. Analyses of resident’s attitudes toward AVs found that even though aging adults are less likely to trust AVs, over half of Florida’s residents are interested in AVs. In summary, this study affirmed AVs' potential to provide safe and efficient mobility options to Florida’s growing aging population, but it highlighted the importance of informing the public about AVs' potential benefits in order to develop the trust necessary for widespread adoption of the technology. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting