Exploring public perceptions of autonomous vehicles: a field experiment in shared AV mobility

The rapid advancement of autonomous vehicle (AV) technology has intensified scholarly interest in examining the behavioral factors that influence public adoption and integration into transportation systems. This study explores public perceptions of AVs in shared mobility, examining Perceived Trust (PT), Traveling Experience and Satisfaction (TES), and Subjective Norms (SN) as key determinants of behavioral intention (BI) to adopt AVs. A field experiment was conducted with 70 participants using the SAE Level 4 TXAI Robotaxi from the TXAI pilot project in Abu Dhabi. Grounded in the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), this study applies Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to assess adoption drivers. Findings indicate that PT significantly influences BI both directly and indirectly through SN. Income levels were found to enhance the TES-BI relationship, while gender differences shaped varying adoption perceptions. Interestingly, perceived benefits and flexibility had minimal impact, emphasizing the need for context-specific validation. The model explains 65.8% of the variance in BI, demonstrating strong predictive power of constructs. This study contributes to theoretical framework by emphasizing the importance of user satisfaction, trust and social influence in AV adoption. Moreover, it provides insights for policymakers and developers to design inclusive, user-centered AV systems that enhance public confidence and integration into urban mobility networks.