  Automated vehicle (AV) shuttles are emerging mobility technologies that have
been widely piloted and deployed. Public attitude is critical to the deployment
progress and the overall social benefits of automated vehicle (AV)
technologies. The AV shuttle demonstration was regarded as a good way for
possible attitude improvements. However, not all existing AV shuttle
technologies are mature and reliable enough. Some frustrating uncomfort issues
in AV shuttle demonstrations may adversely affect public attitudes of AV
technologies. Studying the impact of the comfort of the demonstration on
attitudinal change can help us provide guidance for future demonstrations.
Thanks to the AV shuttle project piloted at Dunedin, Florida, this paper
interviewed 161 people before and after taking an open road AV shuttle ride. In
addition to the participant's demographic information, driving-related
information and psychological-related information, we collected the AV
shuttles' operation status (e.g., abrupt brake). A series of discrete outcome
models were employed to estimate the factors influencing people's initial
opinions before the AV shuttle ride and people's attitudes change after the
ride. The most important finding is that an unsatisfactory riding experience
could negatively affect participants' attitudes toward AV shuttles.
Particularly, the number of abrupt brakes raises more concerns when the
participants are drivers who share the rights of way with the AV shuttle
compared to when the participants are pedestrians or AV shuttle riders.
Moreover, the participants' attitudes toward sharing public space with AV
shuttles as pedestrians and human drivers exhibited more negative changes
compared with simply riding on AV shuttles. These results improve our
understanding of public attitudes toward the existing AV technologies and help
identify new opportunities to improve AV technology adoption.
