Fully automated vehicles: A cost of ownership analysis to inform early adoption

Vehicle automation and its adoption by the vehicle purchasers is an active area of research among transportation academics. So far, most of the interest in the adoption of fully automated, driverless vehicles has focussed on private vehicles alone, yet full automation could be beneficial for commercial vehicles too. This paper identifies the vehicle sectors that will likely be the earliest adopters of full automation. Total cost of ownership analysis is used to compare the costs (and benefits) of vehicle automation for private vehicles among different income groups and commercial vehicles in the taxi and freight sectors in the UK. Commercial operations clearly benefit more from automation because the driver costs can be reduced substantially through automation. Among private users, households with the highest income will benefit more from automation because of their higher driving distances and higher perceived value of time, which can be used more productively through full automation. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.