What to do with commuting time when driving autonomous vehicles? Results of a stated intention experiment

Rapid improvements in autonomous driving technology and the availability of autonomous vehicles (AVs) are expected to change people’s habitual travel patterns. Fully autonomous vehicles (FAVs) do not need to be maneuvered by their users, implying users are allowed to participate in a number of non-driving in-vehicle activities (IVAs) when their FAV is bringing them to their destination. People can therefore use their travel time for working, relaxation, entertainment, communication and possibly other activities. Since FAVs provide a different environment than traditional travel modes, such as trains and busses, people’s preferences for conducting IVAs in FAV travel has become an emerging issue in transportation research. Understanding people’s preferences for conducting IVAs during FAV travel will generate important information for future vehicle interior design and the development of transportation policies. Hence, this paper presents the outcomes of a research study that aims at increasing our understanding of the intentions of individuals to conduct IVAs when travelling by FAV’s and the endogenous and exogenous factors and variables influencing these intentions. We designed an experiment and analyzed the response data using simultaneous equation modeling to examine the intentions to conduct IVAs during FAV travel and potential correlations that may exist across IVAs. The results show significant heterogeneity in IVA intentions and correlations between IVAs. Youngsters, high-education-level groups, and employed show a higher intention to engage in most IVAs. In addition, gender, household income, motion sickness, and license ownership affect people’s intentions. The estimated results suggest that the intentions to conduct IVAs depend on trip length. Moreover, the potential correlation between IVAs is confirmed. For example, respondents who have intentions to conduct to sleep show interest in eating or drinking and play games, but are not inclined to work with a computer. In contrast, respondents who intend to use social media during FAV travel are less likely to sleep when travelling by FAV.