Doulabi Saba, Hassan Hany M, Li Bin
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University, 3252 Patrick Taylor Hall, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University, 3255 Patrick Taylor Hall, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA.
J Safety Res. 2023 Feb;84:218-231. doi: 10.1016/j.jsr.2022.10.022. Epub 2022 Nov 4.
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are considered a promising solution to improve seniors' safety and mobility. However, to transition to fully automated transportation, especially among seniors, it is vital to assess their perception and attitude toward AVs. This paper investigates seniors' perceptions and attitudes to a wide range of AV options from the perspective of pedestrians and users in general, as well as during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Underlying this objective is to examine older pedestrians' safety perceptions and behaviors at crosswalks in the presence of AVs.
A national survey collected data from a sample of 1,000 senior Americans. Using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Cluster Analysis, three clusters of seniors were identified with different demographic characteristics, perceptions, and attitudes toward AVs.
PCA findings revealed that "risky pedestrian crossing behavior," "cautious pedestrian crossing behavior in the presence of AVs," "positive perception and attitude toward shared AVs," and "demographic characteristics" were the main components explaining most of the variation within the data, respectively. The PCA factor scores were used in the cluster analysis, which resulted in the identification of three distinctive groups of seniors. Cluster one included individuals with lower demographic scores and a negative perception and attitude toward AVs from the perspective of users and pedestrians. Clusters two and three included individuals with higher demographic scores. Cluster two included individuals with a positive perception toward shared AVs from the user perspective, but a negative attitude toward pedestrian-AV interaction. Cluster three included those with a negative perception toward shared AVs but a somewhat positive attitude toward pedestrian-AV interaction. The findings of this study provide valuable insights to transportation authorities, AV manufacturers, and researchers regarding older American's perception and attitude toward AVs as well as their willingness to pay and use Advanced Vehicle Technologies.
自动驾驶汽车（AVs）被认为是提高老年人安全性和出行便利性的一个有前景的解决方案。然而，要向全自动交通过渡，尤其是在老年人中实现这一目标，评估他们对自动驾驶汽车的认知和态度至关重要。本文从行人及一般用户的角度，以及在新冠疫情期间和之后，调查了老年人对多种自动驾驶汽车选项的认知和态度。这一目标的背后是考察老年行人在有自动驾驶汽车在场时在人行横道上的安全认知和行为。
一项全国性调查从1000名美国老年人样本中收集了数据。使用主成分分析（PCA）和聚类分析，识别出了三类具有不同人口统计学特征、对自动驾驶汽车的认知和态度的老年人。
主成分分析结果显示，“危险的行人过马路行为”、“在有自动驾驶汽车在场时谨慎的行人过马路行为”、“对共享自动驾驶汽车的积极认知和态度”以及“人口统计学特征”分别是解释数据中大部分变异的主要成分。主成分分析因子得分被用于聚类分析，结果识别出了三类不同的老年人。第一类包括人口统计学得分较低、从用户和行人角度对自动驾驶汽车有负面认知和态度的个体。第二类和第三类包括人口统计学得分较高的个体。第二类包括从用户角度对共享自动驾驶汽车有积极认知，但对行人与自动驾驶汽车互动持负面态度的个体。第三类包括对共享自动驾驶汽车有负面认知，但对行人与自动驾驶汽车互动持某种积极态度的个体。本研究的结果为交通管理部门、自动驾驶汽车制造商和研究人员提供了关于美国老年人对自动驾驶汽车的认知和态度以及他们支付和使用先进车辆技术的意愿的宝贵见解。
