People perceptions and public acceptance of autonomous vehicles: A literature review

Nowadays, autonomous vehicles (AVs) are considered as a key factor for the future mobility, they are proposed as promising solutions for the different transport problems. However, before their implementation, testing AVs’ effects on roads and analysing people acceptance is of utmost importance. This paper aims to review and critically analyse the surveys conducted on AVs, in order to investigate the factors influencing people perception and public acceptance of AVs to address the research gaps before their implementation. In literature, socio-demographic variables, experience, affect towards use, perceived usefulness, compatibility, trust, willingness to pay and attitudes towards AV appeared to be the most significant factors. After investigating such factors, it was found that the majority of people would accept AVs if they have the option to take over control. Another important outcome is that reliability of AVs as well as regulations on their use are not properly addressed in the past research.