Ian Shergold's research while affiliated with University of the West of England, Bristol and other places

E-scooters are the fastest-growing form of micro-mobility, riding a wave of popularity in recent years; in many cities, they have sparked something akin to an urban personal mobility revolution. Despite their popularity, e-scooters raise several challenges for policymakers and transport providers, and are a divisive mode on the streets. Reports of conflict and tension around e-scooters' safety are common. In addition, there are questions about what mode trips e-scooters are substituting. However, to date there remain few academic studies into user and non-user experiences. This study focused on a UK e-scooter trial, using a mixed methods approach to collect data from 222 participants. The focus of this paper's analysis is on participants' qualitative "scooter stories", supported by quantitative data that provides broader insight into the scooters' use and demographic patterns. We find that on the positive side, e-scooters are useful, affordable, enjoyable and flexible; they provide a viable alternative to some urban car trips and can be linked to active travel. However, whist scooters are sometimes replacing car trips, they are more often substituting walking or cycling, a challenging finding from a health and sustainability perspective. E-scooters exacerbate conflicts between users of urban space: we explore legality, safety of riders and non-riders, impacts on pavement and road space, intoxicated riding, and more. We present our findings in the context of sustainable urban mobility policy, making recommendations for policymakers and other stakeholders seeking to mitigate the impacts of e-scooters, and harness the sustainable mobility benefits of this popular new mode.

Shared Autonomous Vehicles are expected to significantly change transport and mobility, improving road safety, environmental impact and traffic efficiency. However, the successful implementation of a SAV mobility service strongly depends on public acceptance and adoption, which might be influenced by a number of factors, such as socio-demographic characteristics of potential users, and their expectations and perceptions towards the autonomous system. This study presents the results of a novel experiment carried out in a non-simulated environment, to explore car users’ preferences towards autonomous mobility options. Participants took part in a stated preference task before and after a brief exposure in a Shared Autonomous Vehicle. Interestingly, results show that the experience influenced people’s mode choice preferences, moving from car (the most preferred mode before the experiment) to autonomous taxi and shared autonomous taxi (after the experiment). The study and the results of the structural equation and the choice model also highlighted the importance of comfort in people’s preferences towards shared autonomous options.

Over the last half century, the proportion of humans living in cities has dramatically risen from around a third to just over half. As cities continue to rise in popularity, demand for basic services such as transportation increases. The automobile has been the dominant method of inner city transportation for many cities across the globe, resulting in increased congestion and air pollution. As the demand for transportation rises, so does the number of vehicles, which leads to greater competition for publicly available parking spaces. Use of land for parking can be an inefficient use of space, and it is expensive, both in terms of real and opportunity costs. Addressing these issues requires cities to more effectively manage their public on-street parking spaces and road network infrastructure. The ParkUs solution discussed here provides one parking and infrastructure management approach, with potential benefits for citizens, businesses, and cities.

Autonomous Vehicles (AV) may become widely diffused as a road transport technology around the world. However, two conditions of successful adoption of AVs are that they must be synchronously shared, to avoid negative transport network and environmental consequences, and that high levels of public acceptance of the technology must exist. The implications of these two conditions are that travellers must accept sharing rides with unfamiliar others in Shared Autonomous Vehicles (SAV). Two factors that have been identified as being positive influencers of acceptance are comfort and trust. The present paper undertakes a novel examination as to how comfort and trust ratings are affected by specific attributes of the ride experience of travelling in a fully-automated real-world, shared vehicle. To this end, 55 participants experienced riding in an SAV shuttle under experimental conditions at a test facility. Each experimental run involved two unrelated participants, accompanied by a safety operative and a researcher, undertaking four trips in the SAV, during which two conditions were presented for each of the independent variables of ‘direction of face’ (forwards/backwards) and ‘maximum vehicle speed’ (8/16 km/h). Order of presentation was varied between pairs of participants. After each run, participants rated the dependent variables ‘trust’ and ‘comfort’ (the latter variable comprised by six comfort factors). Expected and evaluative ratings were also obtained during pre-experimental orientation and debriefing sessions. Statistically significant relationships (p < .001) were found between trust and each of the independent variables, but for neither variable in the case of perceived comfort. A strong correlation was found between comfort and trust, interpreted as indicating trust in the SAV as an important predictor of perceived comfort. The before and after-experiment ratings for both variables showed statistically significant increases, and particularly for daily car drivers.

The transport policy discourse posits Shared Autonomous Vehicles (SAVs) as a more sustainable solution for the implementation of road automation technology. A successful implementation of SAV services strongly depends on being able to meet user's needs, as well as responding to their expectations. For this reason, the public has a central role in the definition of appropriate and realistic policies for the design, regulation and adoption of new automated mobility services. However, whilst there has been considerable attention to individuals' attitudes towards road transport automation, few have applied participatory or co-design methods to help define new SAV services. Moreover, most of the existing studies have also been hypothetical rather than examining vehicles in real service settings. This paper addresses these imbalances through reporting a two-stage research initiative. Initially a local shared automated vehicle service (LSAVS) concept was examined in a co-design workshop (Stage 1), leading to the development of a conceptual framework for social acceptance. This was then applied (Stage 2) in qualitative empirical research into the experiences of participants who rode in two different live prototype LSAVS. It was found that social considerations such as equity in access to mobility services, social inclusion, environmental protection, and concerns about control over interpersonal interactions emerged as strong acceptance factors within participants' construction of the conceptual services and responses to exposure to actual services. However, broad socio-political aspirations beyond transport policy were also important. It is concluded that achieving high levels of social acceptance where these utopian expectations meet commercial realities and public-sector constraints will be a major policy challenge facing any attempt to introduce an LSAVS with strong sustainable mobility credentials.

Introduction Activity theory, a construct from social gerontology, provides a framework to bridge the themes of ageing and transport, and thus enable new insights into the role of out-of-home mobility for wellbeing. The theory proposes that undertaking activities (classified as formal, informal and solitary) can generate wellbeing benefits for older people. Transport can be an important enabling mechanism for activity, but such engagement is at risk should access to a car be lost at a time of declining public transport provision in many communities in countries like the UK. Method Analysis of survey data collected by the ‘Grey and Pleasant Land?’ study of UK rural citizens aged sixty and above (N = 920), which explores activity participation for groups with and without car access. As well as descriptive analysis of the data, a series of binary logistic regression models facilitate exploration of relationships between mobility and activity, and then activity and wellbeing. Results Those with car access are up to three times more likely to participate in formal activity (OR 3.228; CI 1.656, 6.293). More surprisingly, there are higher levels of informal activity for those without car access (65% of this group engage in activity with friends’ weekly compared to only 51% of those with car access). The wellbeing measures proved less conclusive, although lack of weekly activity with friends and family slightly increases the probability of loneliness (OR 1.472; CI .877, 2.470). Age and health are seemingly more important factors. Conclusions Links are seen between formal activity and mobility, but less so for informal activity. In both instances, activities are relatively local; suggesting endeavours to improve mobility and activity will achieve optimum wellbeing and community cohesion benefits at a local level. Activity theory does appear to offer promise as a way of exploring these issues.

Connected autonomous vehicles (CAVs) represent an exciting opportunity for wider access to mobility; especially for individuals unable to drive manual vehicles. Interaction with CAVs will be through human-machine interfaces (HMIs) providing journey-related and other information with some interactivity. These should be designed with potential users as part of a co-design process to maximize acceptance, engagement, and trust. This paper presents an emerging framework to inform the design of in-vehicle CAV HMIs with a focus on older adults (70-years+). These could be amongst early adopters of CAVs and tend to have the highest level of cognitive, sensory, and physical impairments. Whilst there are numerous principles on HMI design for older adults there are fewer on HMIs for AVs, and a need for research on CAV HMI design principles for older adults. Our emerging framework is novel and important for designers of CAV HMIs for older adults and other potential users.

Proposals to pedestrianise or close roads to traffic are often controversial. This article analyses the impact of partial pedestrianisation, using a case study conducted in Brighton, UK. Before-and-after studies found a modest traffic reduction within the area and an increase in cycling during the week, but no significant overall modal shift. There was a high level of public support for the pedestrianisation scheme. One of the streets was closed to traffic on weekends only, but there was public support for this to be extended to weekdays as well. Over two-thirds of visitors to the area arrived using sustainable modes; less than 3% had parked in the immediate area. The changes were controversial and contested, and the outcome was a compromise. This article analyses the process and draws lessons for other cities.

Literature based review of the potential mobility needs of older people, and the use of fully autonomous vehicles.