Attitudes of Greek drivers towards autonomous vehicles – a preliminary analysis using stated preference approach

The advent of autonomous vehicles will soon transform transportation in a substantial way, but at the same time their public acceptance is questionable. Although there is much research carried out, studies analyzing choices of people regarding autonomous, semi-autonomous, and traditional vehicles are relatively scarce. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to add to current literature by surveying Greek drivers on their acceptance and willingness to obtain an autonomous vehicle, as well as their opinion on self-driving technology. Moreover, this study is one of the first attempts in Greece to utilize Stated Preference (SP) methods and Discrete Choice models for that purpose. In our approach, we included hypothetical scenarios of cost, time, and safety, which were distributed in a carefully developed questionnaire. By applying random parameters multinomial logistic and binary logistic models we explored drivers’ attitudes towards autonomous vehicles and accounted for unobserved heterogeneity. Results showed that the choice is associated with cost, time, level of safety, existence of driving support systems (GPS, parking assistant), attitudes towards autonomous public transport and taxis, driving experience, age and family income.