Exploring autonomous bus users' intention: Evidence from positive and negative effects.

The introduction of autonomous buses (ABs) in many countries addresses traditional bus operation challenges, but overlooks critical perceived risks, like functional, safety, and security issues, affecting autonomous driving technology acceptance. This research uses the mental accounting theory to investigate both the positive and negative effects of the intention to use ABs. A hybrid discrete choice model captures latent and observed factors and considers COVID-19's impact on travel mode preferences. Results show that both latent and observed factors significantly affect AB adoption intention, including compatibility, relative advantage, safety/security risks, perceived risks, in/out-of-vehicle time, and travel cost. Trial rides positively impact adoption intention. Familiarity with unmanned tech also affects choice of shared bicycles and ABs, allowing for tailored promotional programs. The conclusions herein offer insights for bus operators, manufacturers, and city governments to integrate ABs into public transport systems effectively. • Mental accounting theory to examine the positive and negative latent impacts on intention. • A hybrid choice model to estimate the effects of both latent and observed factors. • Analytical results show the perceived sacrifice outweighs the perceived benefit of using autonomous bus. • Segmented promotion strategies are designed specifically for certain passengers. • The proposed approach can be generalized in other cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]