Exploring Riders Preferences of Using Shared Autonomous Vehicles: Students Vs Non-Students

Public opinion regarding autonomous vehicles (AV) heavily influences how quickly the technology will be implemented and adopted in the future. This study uses data obtained from riders of RAPID (Rideshare Automation Payment Integration Demonstration), a shared autonomous vehicle (SAV) service in Arlington, Texas, and performed ridership data analysis to identify the daily ridership trends of students and non-students.  Within the scope of this project, AVs provided service to the UTA campus and downtown Arlington, giving trips from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM Monday through Friday. The findings revealed that students are the most frequent riders of the RAPID service when compared to non-students. It was also revealed that the usage frequency of RAPID service was higher on Tuesdays and Wednesdays when compared to other working days of the week. Additionally, the findings indicate that the service was less utilized during early mornings before 9:00 am and evenings after 6:00 pm when compared to other times of the day. This study offers critical insights towards ridership trends of shared AVs that will assist local, state, and federal transit authorities and planners in formulating policies and transportation strategies to target SAV ridership when the service is more offered widely.