Travel experience matters: Expected personal mobility impacts after simulated L3/L4 automated driving

Automated vehicles (AVs) are expected to change personal mobility in the near future. Most studies on the mobility impacts of AVs focus on fully automated (SAE L5) vehicles, but the gradual development of the technology will probably bring AVs with more limited capabilities to begin with. This stated-preference study focused on the potential mobility impacts of conditionally automated (L3) and highly automated cars (L4). We investigated personal mobility impacts among 59 participants who experienced automated driving repeatedly in a driving simulator. Half of them drove with an L3 and half with an L4 motorway function. After the first and final drive they answered questions on their travel experience and how automated vehicles could change their mobility. After the drives, participants in both groups were willing to accept 30–50% longer travel times for a 30 min trip if they did not need to drive the whole trip themselves. This translates into savings of around 30% for the perceived value of travel time on routes where automation is available. There were no statistically significant differences between L3 and L4 in the accepted travel times. Most participants did not expect to make more trips with automated cars, but around half of them anticipated making longer trips. The amount of car travel may increase more with L4 than with L3 automation, possibly due somewhat to changes in the experienced travel quality. The results suggest that the mobility impacts of automated driving may increase with a higher level of automation.