Safety risk assessment of autonomous vehicles for sustainable transportation

Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) are critical to sustainable transport, using advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and sensors to ease congestion and cut emissions. AVs are also a key driver for cleaner and more efficient transportation, providing greater accessibility for people with disabilities and those in underserved areas. However, safety concerns remain a major barrier to the widespread adoption of AVs. Thus, this chapter aims to address these challenges by focusing on both the physical and information technology aspects of AV design and conducting an in-depth safety risk assessment of AVs. It conducts a risk analysis to evaluate the risks posed by AVs and determines the measures that can be taken to address these risks. By integrating risk analysis and multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques, risks related to AVs are prioritized, and solution strategies are presented according to risk priorities. Based on findings, software failure, limited information on technology and hardware malfunctions are the three most important risk factors that must be taken into consideration to handle the adoption of AVs in sustainable urban transportation.