ABSTRACT
Autonomous Delivery Robots (ADR), an innovative last-mile delivery method, can be seen as a sustainable solution for the distribution of goods in urban cities. This study combines the modified-TAM (encompassing the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and threat elements of the health belief model) and the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) into the stimulus-organism-response framework to explain consumer intention to use ADRs. The responses of 500 respondents living in Singapore were collected via an online questionnaire, and the collected results were obtained using structural equation modelling. Using the modified-TAM and TPB constructs as the main conceptual framework for analysis, the results show significant results for consumers' ADR usage. Based on total effects analysis, attitude shows the largest effect on consumers' intention to use ADRs, followed by perceived usefulness, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived ease of use, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control. Overall, the findings give an extensive insight into the key determinants influencing consumers' intention to use ADRs and offer strategic policy recommendations to encourage the use of ADRs.
ABSTRACT
The recent deployment of sidewalk autonomous delivery robots (SADRs) across university campuses has offered students, staff, and faculty a convenient option for food delivery to their residences or workplaces. However, these low-speed automated food delivery services, which were first commercially deployed on American campuses in early 2019 and continued to offer an important contactless delivery service during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, traverse campuses on pathways originally designed for pedestrians and bicyclists, creating a potential for conflicts among the different pathway users and potentially unsafe transportation conditions. This study examines one week of field-recorded video from ten locations across the Northern Arizona University campus to help understand the prevalence and severity of SADR-involved interactions with pedestrians and bicyclists. The severity of SADR-involved interactions was quantified by using the surrogate safety measure of post-encroachment time, which was then modeled as a function of conflict- and site-level characteristics to identify predictors of moderate or dangerous conflicts between SADRs and human pathway users. Findings from this study, which provides initial real-world insights into the impacts of SADRs sharing pathways with pedestrians and bicyclists, are intended to help inform facility management strategies capable of supporting the safe introduction of this emerging autonomous freight technology on shared-use facilities in current and potential future settings. © 2023 The Author(s)
ABSTRACT
Five hundred survey responses on consumer acceptance of autonomous delivery robots (ADRs) were collected because the pandemic has increased the emphasis on contactless deliveries, spurring some interest in ADRs to perform last-mile deliveries in urban cities. To examine consumers' intention to adopt ADRs, a comprehensive theoretical model grounded on the Health Belief Model and Task-Technology Fit Model was presented and structural equation modeling was applied to examine the survey data. The analysis revealed that the constructs from both theories have significant effects on outcome expectations and task-technology fit. Additionally, outcome expectations and task-technology fit are strong predictors of consumers' intention, as indicated by their direct and indirect effects. Thus, this study enriches existing research by interpreting consumers' intention to adopt ADRs through health and technology perspectives. It also provides practical implications and policy recommendations for urban planning and design. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd