Trust and women's perceived safety in driverless versus traditional ride-hailing: The role of perceived environmental safety

초록

Although driverless ride-hailing (DRH; also known as robotaxis) may be associated with lower interpersonal safety concerns for women because the in-vehicle driver is removed, it also introduces uncertainty about automated driving performance and digital security. Drawing on trust theory and risk perception perspectives, this study examines the association between trust and women's perceived safety in DRH and traditional ride-hailing (TRH), tests whether perceived environmental safety (PES) conditions this association, and evaluates whether it differs by prior ride-hailing victimisation. Survey data from 631 women in three Chinese megacities were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling and multigroup analysis. Trust was positively associated with perceived safety in both services, with a stronger association in DRH than in TRH. Perceived privacy and cybersecurity protection showed the strongest association with trust, followed by cognitive safety and emotional safety. The negative PES & times; trust interaction indicated a weaker trust-perceived-safety association at higher PES, consistent with a trustcompensation pattern in which trust was most salient when women travelled alone at night or in remote or unfamiliar settings. Among DRH users, the trust-perceived-safety association was stronger for those reporting prior victimisation. Overall, the findings point to privacy-by-design principles and context-aware safety features as potential considerations for gender-responsive robotaxi policy and service design.

키워드