The willingness to pay for the automated vehicle subscription: Insights from a car-oriented population in China

In the rapidly advancing field of automated driving systems, the automated vehicle subscription (AVS) can provide the easiness of trialing the latest automated vehicle (AV) technologies at a monthly cost and gather significant customer interest. However, a gap in the literature remains regarding attitudes and willingness to pay (WTP) towards this innovative business model AVS, which is an alternative to the widely studied Self-owned AV and shared AV (SAV). Thus, we conducted a stated preference (SP) survey among the car-oriented population in China to assess the willingness to pay for the automated vehicle subscription, investigating its potential among the non-automated vehicle, Self-owned AV, and SAV. In the context of level 4 AVs, mixed logit model results reveal that automated vehicle subscription stands out among all AV alternatives, with all respondents demonstrating a positive willingness to pay for the automated vehicle subscription. In comparison, respectively 96 % and 71 % of the respondents have a positive willingness to pay for the Self-owned AV and SAV. Meanwhile, compared to a non-automated vehicle with a fixed ownership cost of 300 K CNY (1CNY = 0.14US$) and assuming a 10-CNY trip cost for the most frequent trip, the median willingness to pay of an AV is (1) 3 K CNY/month for the automated vehicle subscription; (2) an extra 130 K CNY for a Self-owned AV; (3) 418 CNY/month for an SAV. Furthermore, the purpose of travel, income, and individual attitudes toward automated driving significantly influence the willingness to pay for the automated vehicle subscription. Notably, individuals traveling for business purpose and belonging to the high-income group show a stronger inclination towards the automated vehicle subscription. Overall, automated vehicle subscription has a high willingness to pay and is shown to be a promising path forward in AV adoption.