Our Research

The goals of WEAVE are to gain insight into:

What are the organizational factors that inform the AV adoption decision and strategies?

How will driving jobs change in response to AVs and what new knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) will be required?

How willing and able are workers to adapt to the changing nature of driving jobs, and will the changing nature of jobs disadvantage some groups of workers more so than others?

What are the anticipated downstream impacts on drivers (e.g., economic stability, stress, quality of life), transportation industry, organizations, and society?

To accomplish these objectives, the WEAVE research team is utilizing qualitative and quantitative research methods to examine multiple elements of organizations within the driving workforce. As a major research focus, WEAVE is conducting focus groups and surveys with upper-level management, supervisors of drivers, and drivers in trucking and taxi/ride-hailing companies across the states of Michigan and South Carolina. These focus groups and surveys will provide insights into the anticipated effects of AV adoption on the workforce. Using resources like O*NET, our team is also working on mapping the KSA of workers that could be displaced by AVs and identifying optimal transition jobs for them.

Given the unexpected impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, we are focusing our efforts to understand the effects of COVID-19 on the driving workforce and investigate its downstream impacts on the AV deployment timeline. Our team is also working on related research projects that will provide additional insights on the impacts of AVs on the driving workforce.