Autonomous vehicles in the smart city era: An empirical study of adoption factors important for millennials

摘要

Smart cities are developing at increasing speed. Smart cities rely on the deployment of information and communication technology (ICT) that is digitally transforming our habitats. Digital transformation affects several areas from transportation, energy, government to the environment. But, primarily, it affects citizens. Therefore, the adoption of all areas of the smart city holds great research potential. The purpose of this paper is thus to provide an insight into millennials? adoption of autonomous vehicles (AV), which are at the forefront of future transport. Millennials are an important focus group for smart city concepts since they are keen to adopt technology and new transport modes. Our research focuses on technology adoption, perception of the benefits, security, safety, mobility-related efficiencies and concerns as the key AV adoption factors. The impact of these factors is empirically tested with structural equation modelling using data from 382 millennials. We confirm the perceived benefits of AV are vital factors for AV adoption whereas the perceived safety of AV significantly reduces the influence of various concerns regarding AV.