# Autonomous Driving and Residential Location Preferences: Evidence from a Stated Choice Survey

## TL;DR

This study investigates how autonomous vehicles might influence residential location choices and travel behavior, finding no significant change in travel time valuation, based on a survey of Sydney commuters and mixed logit model analysis.

## Contribution

It provides empirical insights into the potential land use and travel behavior impacts of autonomous vehicles using a stated preference survey and advanced modeling techniques.

## Key findings

- No significant change in travel time valuation due to AVs
- Insights into residential location preferences in the context of AVs
- Empirical evidence from a large commuter survey

## Abstract

The literature suggests that autonomous vehicles (AVs) may drastically change the user experience of private automobile travel by allowing users to engage in productive or relaxing activities while travelling. As a consequence, the generalised cost of car travel may decrease, and car users may become less sensitive to travel time. By facilitating private motorised mobility, AVs may eventually impact land use and households' residential location choices. This paper seeks to advance the understanding of the potential impacts of AVs on travel behaviour and land use by investigating stated preferences for combinations of residential locations and travel options for the commute in the context of autonomous automobile travel. Our analysis draws from a stated preference survey, which was completed by 512 commuters from the Sydney metropolitan area in Australia and provides insights into travel time valuations in a long-term decision-making context. For the analysis of the stated choice data, mixed logit models are estimated. Based on the empirical results, no changes in the valuation of travel time due to the advent of AVs should be expected. However, given the hypothetical nature of the stated preference survey, the results may be affected by methodological limitations.