Perception of people from educational institution regarding autonomous vehicles

Since the general public will play a central role in the evolution of AVs, research has been performed to assess their perception and acceptance of AVs. Nevertheless, the most potential users of AVs, i.e., young, students, and more educated people, have not received any particular focus in those studies. This research gap has motivated us to assess their perceptions. Extensive data analyses of the survey at the University of Central Florida with a sample of 315 reveal that on average 57% of the respondents were familiar with AVs, and about 44% of the respondents felt positive perceptions toward AVs. Around 51% of the respondents had some concerns regarding the perceived negative aspects of AVs, however, a significant percentage of people (around 34%) maintained a neutral position regarding the negative aspects of AVs. In addition, structural equation modeling was performed considering five latent variables and 32 observed variables to investigate the inter-relationship among those variables. Model results suggest that as more people have positive primary perceptions about different aspects of AVs, their attitudes toward AVs would be more positive, and the concerns regarding AVs would be reduced. Demographic characteristics do not significantly influence the willingness to possess AVs, and people want to own AVs despite their different demographic backgrounds. These study findings could help policymakers to apprehend different prospects of people's perceptions regarding AVs and have implications for the stakeholders of autonomous vehicles.