Assessment of Autonomous Vehicle Sharing for Evacuation and Disaster Relief
This report examines whether privately owned self-driving autonomous vehicles (AVs) could be shared by the public to help evacuate vulnerable residents and deliver relief supplies during future hurricanes in South Carolina. Based on a survey of over 1,000 South Carolina residents, more than 30% said they would be willing or very willing to share their AVs, though many wanted conditions like compensation, insurance coverage, limits on how long the vehicle is gone, and the ability to track it. Ordered logit models identified factors linked to greater willingness to share, including comfort with AV technology, frequent charitable giving and volunteering, ride-hailing use, and certain demographics, while factors like being over 65 or having very low income reduced willingness in the evacuation context. Applying the model to a synthetic statewide population showed about 32% of citizens would share their AVs, and Monte Carlo simulations found that a 20% AV market penetration could evacuate roughly 85–90% of critical transportation need households, with 30–35% penetration sufficient to evacuate them all. The authors conclude that AV sharing is a potentially feasible tool for emergency management agencies, though it depends on future AV adoption rates and would require addressing concerns about liability, compensation, and public trust.