Stated acceptance and behavioral responses of drivers towards innovative connected vehicle applications.

ABSTRACT

This research is aimed at investigating drivers' attitudes towards connected vehicle technology in general and two connected vehicle applications in particular-Lane Speed Monitoring and High Speed Differential Warning-which have been demonstrated via simulation to be effective in enhancing traffic mobility and safety, respectively. An online survey was sent to customers of an automobile manufacturer in the United States. Out of the 1453 survey responses that were received, 650 complete and valid responses were used to analyze the respondents' stated acceptance of and expected behavioral responses to the two connected vehicle applications under a variety of scenarios. Statistical analyses were conducted to examine the influence of demographic and socioeconomic factors. The results reveal that the respondents express high willingness to use connected vehicle technology and the two applications under various circumstances, and the willingness is strongly associated with age, gender, education level, and income. Higher levels of acceptance are observed in older, male, higher-educated, or higher-income respondents, while the patterns of conditional acceptance and expected behavioral responses vary with specific scenarios. These results provide useful information for application developers, traffic operators, and policy makers to steer connected vehicle technology development and deployment in the direction that will benefit both the users and the society.