Revolutions, a Pandemic, and Pricey Gasoline: How Greater Kansas City Views Evolving Transportation Technologies Amid Chaotic Change

Keywords: sustainability; transportation; electric vehicles; CAV; shared mobility
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

Electric vehicles, connected and automated vehicles, and shared mobility all portend major changes to transportation, sustainability, and society. Within each of these “revolutions,” research has consistently examined factors that could influence adoption and use, as well as the potential impacts of that adoption and use. Much of that work considers each technological revolution individually and generalizable to any time. However, these changes are not occurring in a vacuum; instead, they are happening concurrently, with the evolution and adoption of one technology promises to influence that of the others, and amid wild, heterogenous changes in society influencing transition, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and gasoline price fluctuations.

This research addresses this gap by reporting the results of a late 2022 survey on residents of the greater Kansas City metropolitan area. Kansas City makes for a particularly impactful study site, as it features what is believed to be one of the largest urban electric vehicle charging networks in the world, straddles multiple political jurisdictions, and is located in the relatively-understudied Midwest/Great Plains of the US. Respondents are asked about their knowledge of and prior experience with these different technologies in transportation and its related infrastructure, their travel behavior, and the perceived impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, and gasoline prices on that behavior. The results are analyzed for the influence of proximity to infrastructure and other users of these technologies to identify associations in the diffusion of these technologies with each other.