Choosing a driverless or conventional taxi: a quick or slow decision?

Choice between driverless v. conventional taxis were investigated in two contexts: (i) forced choice experiment, (ii) structured interviews on attitude. The experiment varied destination urgency, positive/negative autonomous vehicle (AV) news, with scenarios varying cost, safety and pressure. Most participants were conservative, choosing conventional taxis (PT group) in most scenarios, while a minority (AV group) chose driverless taxis. In the scenarios, choice was associated with cost and safety, although cost and safety did not discriminate between PT/AV choice. In the interviews, PT group choice was influenced by dependability, uncertainty about AVs and familiarity while the AV groups’ choice was influenced by positive AV attitudes and assessment of AV reliability. Females tended to be more conservative than males, while several participants considered AVs might be more dependable safety may be challenged in less developed counties. Decisions in the scenarios were rapid, involving < 5 variables, while the interview decisions involved many contextual influences and trade-offs. Key user experience issues were dependability, service quality, and customisation. Fast-path, conventional v. autonomous taxi choice is likely to depend on safety, attitude and prior experience while slow-path attitude formation involves dependability, uncertainty, journey context, and regulation. Several recommendations for AV adoption are given including introduction strategies, marketing and design considerations.