Investigating people's attitude toward automated driving bus rapid transit using extended technology acceptance model: a case from Shanghai, China

Bus rapid transit (BRT) has great development potential for implementing automated driving (AD) due to its exclusive right of way. Studying public acceptance of automated driving BRT (AD-BRT) can help provide a basis for AD promotion policy. This study established an extended technology acceptance model (TAM) implemented by the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) using 424 valid survey samples. The factors influencing people's intention to use AD-BRT were ranked as: perceived technology level, attitude towards use, perceived usefulness, perceived safety, and perceived ease of use. People's knowledge and understanding of automated driving is an essential basis. Respondents' socioeconomic attributes impacted acceptance of AD-BRT, significant differences were observed across genders, ages, monthly incomes (CNY) , and educational backgrounds. Different education groups also presented differences in path coefficients. The investigation implied that adopting advanced AD technology and enhancing the education of new technology are basic measures to increase the acceptance of AD-BRT.