2020 Volume 85 Issue 768 Pages 265-273
Introduction
In recent years, a personal mobility vehicle has garnered interest as an inner-city transporter owing to its compactness and intuitive operability. It is divided into standing-type and sitting-type vehicles. Although personal mobility vehicles had been strictly regulated by road traffic laws in Japan, deregulation proceedings have recently begun. However, strategies to incorporate these vehicles, especially the standing-type vehicle into our lives have not been devised yet. Previous studies have evaluated the safety of standing-type vehicles under experimental situations, but only a few focused on users’ needs in practical situations. Our study focused on the standing-type vehicle, and we conducted a survey on its impressions and needs based on user evaluation to gain a psychological point of view as well as test its feasibility.
Method
This study is composed of two types of questionnaire. The First questionnaire was handed out to seventy-one participants. The first questionnaire asked them to evaluate seven types of vehicles, including the standing-type mobility vehicle. It contained eight evaluation items selected by authors in a five-step scale. The results were analyzed by comparing the standing-type vehicle with other vehicles based on personal attributes. The second questionnaire targeted seven hundred and seventy-four commuters to Tsukuba city and asked the following questions: 1.Where do you want to use the standing-type vehicle?
2.What are the things that you would expect from a standing-type vehicle? Participants answered each question by selecting the options the authors provided or responded in comments if no option was chosen.
Results
Impressions on standing-type vehicle as compared to other vehicles: The vehicle was rated highly in terms of “fun,” but the ratings on “want to use daily,” ”safe,” and ”assistive” were low. In addition, we found that it varied widely in evaluations in comparison to other vehicles.
Evaluation of standing-type vehicle based on personal attributes: The evaluation of standing-type vehicles depended on user attributes such as sex, age, residential area, and experience of riding the vehicle. While young people viewed the standing-type vehicle as a form of amusement, elder people were in favor of its practicality.
Needs and expectations of the standing-type vehicle: The vehicle was given priority over walking as an indoor and outdoor mode of transportation. In addition, participants considered the application of tourism, amusement, and regional activation. However, the results suggested people did not want the standing-type vehicle for daily use as they felt it attracted attention. It is necessary to examine the factors of environments or situations which people want to use standing-type mobility vehicles in more detail.
