To share or not to share, by whom is the question. Acceptability and acceptance of shared transport services by vulnerable groups

ABSTRACT

It is believed that shared transport services (STSs) can reduce transport poverty and social exclusion. This paper proposes a definition of “social acceptability” and “social acceptance” and examines whether vulnerable groups accept STSs. The notions “acceptability” and “acceptance” were distinguished and four necessary conditions, especially for vulnerable groups, or the 4As were identified: “availability”, “accessibility”, “affordability”, and “attractability”. In the context of STSs, “social acceptability” is defined as the degree to which an individual intends to use a STS before experiencing it in everyday travel based on the expected availability, accessibility, affordability, and attractability of the service, while “social acceptance” also incorporates the use of a STS after experiencing it in everyday travel based on a minimum level of perceived availability, accessibility, affordability, and attractability. This paper further reviews the scientific literature in transport research regarding the “acceptability” or “acceptance” of STSs by vulnerable groups. While several studies include socio-economic and demographic variables (e.g. age, gender) to explain the “acceptability” of STSs, only a few studies specifically focus on vulnerable groups. More research on the “social acceptance” of STSs, especially shared scooters, ride-sharing, and apps and Mobility as a Service (MaaS), by vulnerable groups is needed.

KEYWORDS:

• Acceptability
• acceptance
• shared transport services
• vulnerable groups
• disadvantaged groups
• social inclusion

Acknowledgments

This paper has benefited from the constructive comments and suggestions of three anonymous reviewers.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 Machado et al. (2018) give an overview of the current shared mobility services.

2 “transport*” OR “mobility” AND “acceptability” OR “acceptance” AND “*shar*” AND “scooter” OR “bike” OR “bicycle” OR “car” OR “ride” OR “autonomous” OR “automated” OR “self-driving” OR “driverless” OR “app*” OR “MaaS”

3 Some publications contain multiple SEDs and cover different STSs.

Additional information

Funding

This work was co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund from the European Union under the Interreg North Sea Region project PAV (Planning for Autonomous Vehicles).