“Despite seemingly declining enthusiasm for automated vehicles, their safety and productivity outcomes will be a game-changer for Australians.”
That was the view of EastLink’s Corporate Affairs Manager, Doug Spencer-Roy, who presented to 50 transport stakeholders at a Centre for Connected and Automated Transport (CCAT) event in Melbourne on 20 June on public attitudes to automated vehicles.
The event was delivered by CCAT in collaboration with valued member EastLink and supported by the National Transport Research Organisation (NTRO) who hosted the event at their headquarters in Port Melbourne.
EastLink, whose 40km road network in Melbourne comprises the tollway that connects the Eastern, Monash, Frankston and Peninsula Link Freeways as well as the Ringwood Bypass, has been surveying Victorian drivers annually since 2017 to gauge perceptions of electric and self-driving vehicles.
Data from this comprehensive survey, the largest of its kind in Australia, is fundamental to our understanding of evolving public opinion on new vehicle technologies, and informs EastLink’s work to ensure their roads are compatible with future technologies.
While the survey also explores public attitudes relating to electric vehicle adoption and shifting vehicle power preferences, CCAT’s event focused specifically on the data relating to driver assistance preferences, connected features and knowledge and perceptions of self-driving technologies.
Mr Spencer-Roy presented on the highlights of the 2023 survey, giving attendees exclusive first access to the latest trend data. The full report is available on EastLink’s website. Key outcomes are summarised below.
Summary of Survey Outcomes
Driver assistance preferences
The survey asked respondents whether their current vehicle has a series of safety or driver assistance functions and, if so, whether they use them or not.
The data shows that more and more motorists each year are using the latest driver assistance functions. The exceptions to this are active parking assistance and automatic lane changing, which are not used much, and for which usage is not increasing. Compared to other driver assistance functions, adaptive cruise control and active parking assistance are less likely to be used by motorists when these functions are available.
When asked which functions respondents desire in their next vehicle, preferences for driver assistance options declined slightly compared to results from the previous year. The only exception was cruise control, the most well-established of the listed control options, which was unchanged from previous years.
Connectivity
Respondents were asked to consider whether they wanted their next car to be connected to a data network for a range of uses: traffic warnings, road condition warnings, vehicle security, automatic emergency assistance, entertainment, 
toll information and payment and ‘other’ (red lights, pedestrians). Most respondents “definitely want” their next car to be connected to a data network for traffic warnings, road condition warnings and vehicle security applications. Almost half of respondents “definitely” want their next car to be connected to a data network for other warnings (e.g. red lights, pedestrians) and for automatic emergency assistance.
Fully self-driving vehicles
Respondents were asked to rate their level of knowledge about self-driving vehicles. The most significant change in motorists’ knowledge of self-driving cars was a shift of 5% of motorists over the past two years from “very little knowledge” to “some knowledge”. Almost half of motorists (46%) think they have “no knowledge” or “very little knowledge” of self-driving vehicles.
Respondents were asked whether they could imagine using hands-off driving on a freeway. Over the life of the survey there has been an ongoing decline in the number of motorists who say they could “definitely” imagine using hands-off driving on a freeway. There has been an increase in the number of motorists who say they could “definitely not” imagine it. 18% of respondents can now “definitely” imagine it, compared to 43% who can “definitely not” imagine it. This is a significant change compared to 2017, when 33% could “definitely” imagine it and only 21% could “definitely not” imagine it. 
The survey asked respondents to consider whether they would want vehicles to be able to drive themselves in a range of specific journey types. These are metro freeways, stop-start congestion, daily commute, long distance freeways, inner city travel and parking.
The data since 2017 represents an on-going decline in the number of motorists who say they “definitely want” vehicles to be able to drive themselves across a wide range of journey types. Further, this sentiment was matched by an increase in the number of motorists who say they “definitely don’t want” vehicles to be able to drive themselves in these journey types, in particular over the last two years.
One of the survey questions asked respondents to consider whether they’d want their next vehicle to offer fully self-driving on freeways, either with continuous monitoring by a driver, or with no monitoring by the driver required. Notably, responses showed that following a peak in 2020, there has been an overall decline for both scenarios of the number of motorists who want their next vehicle to offer fully self-driving on freeways.
The data also shows that there has been an ongoing decline in the number of motorists who would travel as a passenger in a self-driving car across all scenarios. While 60% would now travel in a fully self-driving car on a freeway where the vehicle has a driver who is monitoring and able to take over control, this falls to just 21% where the vehicle has no driver and no driving controls.
Respondents were asked about their minimum expectations for the safety of self-driving cars. While there hasn’t been significant change in the 6 years of the survey, it is notable that one in three respondents expect that self-driving cars should be 100% safe and never be involved in a collision.
EastLink’s full report on Annual Victorian self-driving & electric car survey
Panel Discussion
Following his presentation, Mr Spencer-Roy was joined by a panel of government and industry experts who explored key issues relating to changing perceptions of automated transport. The panel, moderated by CCAT's Executive Director Rahila David, discussed possible reasons for shifting public attitudes to automated vehicles and strategies to address this.
The panel considered the downward trend in public acceptance could be the result of safety concerns, risk aversion, media, a lack of contact with the technology, cybersecurity concerns and a lack of clarity around liability and insurance. 
Ms David put to the panel opposing propositions, that either something must be done to address trends or perhaps we should just leave it to the ‘market to decide’.
The panel agreed that given the positive outcomes expected from automated vehicles, proactive steps should be taken to increase public acceptance.
Simone Pettigrew, Professorial Fellow at the George Institute for Global Health highlighted synergies between public health campaigns and the challenge of increasing support of automated vehicles.
“Humans are extremely risk-averse, and recently, reports of safety incidents have overshadowed any good news stories about automated vehicle technology, both locally and internationally.
We must try to shift our gaze away from the risk perception and consider instead what the future might look like when this technology is deployed: what will our communities look like when we don’t all need to own a vehicle? What can be achieved while travelling when you don’t have to drive?”
Darren Atkinson, Director, Connected & Automated Vehicle Policy and Partnerships, Office of Future Transport Technology at the Commonwealth Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, noted that the while positive attitudes are trending downward, it is pleasing that more Australians are engaging with the issue. He noted the importance of a nuanced approach to engaging with the public.
“We must recognise that this technology will benefit different people in different ways. A coordinated and collaborative approach to awareness raising and education is needed that can strategically identify these key groups and tailor the content appropriately.”
In relation to public education, the panel discussed examples of initiatives that have been successful in other countries such as PAVE, a coalition of government, industry and academia in Europe and North America. PAVE was created with a mission to engage with the public 
about automated vehicles to ensure everyone can play a role in shaping vision for their deployment. It was noted that with the resources available through organisations such as CCAT and others, we are well placed to support education and awareness of the Australian public about these technologies.
The panel also discussed the importance of relatable use-cases to supporting public acceptance. Examples included automated vehicles delivering goods, food and beverages and providing accessible transport solutions to older Australians, disabled people or remote communities.
Joanne Murray, Head of Mobilities at Keolis Downer, highlighted recent trials that demonstrated much higher support for automated vehicles by those who have experienced it:
“We should not rely solely on overseas learnings to raise public awareness of this technology; Australians need to experience it themselves. Integrating automated vehicle trials with our transport systems would be an important step forward in improving public attitudes.”
The panel also highlighted that Australian automated vehicle trials have been disrupted by things like the covid-19 pandemic, future workforce considerations and regulatory restrictions. It was agreed that there is sufficient evidence that trust and confidence in the technology can be successfully built when members of the public have the opportunity to experience it, and that post-pandemic there was an opportunity to introduce more trials. Further, panellists agreed that industries that have been successfully using automated vehicle technologies for some time (such as mining and agriculture) are well positioned to support knowledge sharing and community awareness about potential benefits in the roads sector.
In wrapping up the discussion, the panel were asked to summarise their views on the key strategies for improving public acceptance of automated vehicles. Their examples included creating more opportunities for communities to experience the technology, 
disseminating positive messaging about trial successes, education tailored to different communities, usage in public transport applications and other use cases which provide a transport solution, considering what users want to do in their automated vehicles, and implementing a regulatory framework which addresses safety assurance and liability.
Ms David closed the discussion by noting the importance of public acceptance in the successful transition to connected and automated transport technologies:
“Automated vehicles are expected to provide benefits across many public outcomes such as safety, productivity, decarbonisation and accessibility. Therefore, public trust and take up of the technology is important. The technology can only take you so far – we need to bring the public along on the journey.”
She also noted community acceptance would be a key theme of the National Future Transport Summit, a collaborative government and industry initiative being coordinated by CCAT, which will be held in September 2025.
Following the event, Rahila David was invited onto ABC radio where she shared further insights into changing public attitudes to automated vehicles and what this means for deployment in Australia.
For more information, contact us at info@ccat.org.au