A Research on Local Community’s Acceptance and Human Factors Using Analytic Hierarchy Process

Abstract

Based on thorough empirical research using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and literature revie, the study examined the attitudes, expectations and concerns of local citizens with respect to urban air mobility (UAM) and revealed interesting insights as a new air mobility. The AHP survey results were very insightful among all those experts surveyed. Experts initially and spontaneously express a positive attitude toward and interest in UAM. It is seen as a new and attractive means of mobility and a majority is ready to try it out. The notion of public interest is a determining factor for acceptance: use cases for the benefit of the community, such as medical or emergency transport or those connecting remote areas, are better supported than use cases satisfying individual/private needs. However, experts expressed an opinion that local citizens want to limit their own exposure to human factor related risks, in particular when related to UAM’s flight safety. Regarding the considerations of vertiport, the study also shows that citizens seem to concern about infrastructures around vertiport to improve UAM usefulness and use-convenience.

Keywords

• urban air mobility
• vertiport
• flight safety
• human factor
• analytic hierarchy process