Autonomous delivery vehicles to fight the spread of Covid-19 – How do men and women differ in their acceptance?

Covid-19 seriously impacts and endangers lives of millions worldwide. To fight the spread of the virus, governments have taken various restricting measures including stay at home orders. Ultimately, the home delivery volume increased significantly, which still bears the risk of human-human infection during the final delivery. From a logisticians perspective, autonomous delivery vehicles (ADVs), which are a contactless delivery solution, have the potential to radically change the way groceries are delivered to customer homes and help to stop the spread of the virus. However, to date, research on user acceptance of ADVs is rare. This paper theoretically extends the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) including gender as a moderator. The study is based on quantitative data collected in Germany through an online questionnaire (n=501). Data were analysed using structural equation modelling. The results indicate that trust in technology, price sensitivity, innovativeness, performance expectancy, hedonic motivation, social influence, and perceived risk determine behavioural intention. However, some constructs are only significant for women. The findings of this paper have theoretical, managerial and policy contributions and implications within the areas of last-mile delivery and technology acceptance

Pkw-Maut, Sonderabgabe oder Sonderfonds: Sinnvolle Instrumente zur Finanzierung der Verkehrsinfrastruktur?

Im April dieses Jahres überraschte Torsten Albig, Ministerpräsident des Landes Schleswig-Holstein, mit dem Vorschlag, zur Finanzierung der nötigen Infrastruktursanierung eine Sonderabgabe von allen Nutzern zur Wartung und zur Reparatur der Straßen zu verlangen. Ist dieser geplante Sonderfonds ein sinnvolles Finanzierungsinstrument? Nach Ansicht von Gernot Sieg, Universität Münster, verschärfen eine Sonderabgabe und ein Sonderfonds »Reparatur Deutschland« die Anreize, die zum Unterfinanzierungsproblem geführt haben. Eine Vignette dagegen könne, gekoppelt mit dem Ausbau der Verkehrsinfrastrukturfinanzierungsgesellschaft zu einem Bundesfernstraßenfonds, das Problem des Verfalls der Bundesfernstraßen lösen. Zudem würden die Autofahrer durch die Vignette »lernen«, dass man für die Nutzung von Autobahnen bezahlen müsse. Dies sei ein wichtiger Schritt in die richtige Richtung: Ist die »Umsonst-Mentalität« beendet, dann sind die nächsten Schritte zur auslastungs- und entfernungsabhängigen Maut politisch einfacher durchsetzbar. Für Bernhard Wieland, Technische Universität Dresden, besteht der Charme des Albigschen Vorschlags in der vergleichsweise raschen Realisierbarkeit, denn dass umgehend gehandelt werden müsse, darin seien sich alle Kommissionen und Experten einig. Eine Ausweitung der Lkw-Maut oder die Einführung einer auch nur rudimentär räumlich und zeitlich differenzierten Pkw-Maut erfordere einen längeren Zeitraum. Günter Knieps, Universität Freiburg, sieht die Zeit reif für eine »intelligente« Pkw-Maut. Eine zeitraumbezogene Vignettenlösung gehe das Stauproblem nicht an. Ein aktives Engpassmanagement auf Straßeninfrastrukturen mache es erforderlich, sämtliche Fahrzeuge, Lkw und Pkw, einzubeziehen und gleichzeitig eine auslastungsabhängige zeitlich und örtlich variierende Maut zu erheben. In der Vergangenheit scheiterten Überlegungen, auslastungsabhängige Benutzungsgebühren im Straßenverkehr zu erheben, an den technischen Möglichkeiten. In den letzten Jahren sei abe

Nachhaltige Logistik der Kurier-, Express- und Paketdienste (KEP)

NACHHALTIGE LOGISTIK DER KURIER-, EXPRESS- UND PAKETDIENSTE (KEP) Nachhaltige Logistik der Kurier-, Express- und Paketdienste (KEP) / Bernecker, Tobias (Rights reserved) ( -

MIRA/LOOK Exhibition

This exhibition produced for the Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke and displayed in September and October of 2008, highlights community planning and design initiatives that promote cultural expression and community visions for Holyoke. The designs were created by Professor Joseph Krupczynski and students from the Architecture + Design program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst

Capturing Gathering Swarming - Re-coding Post-Communist Space in East Germany

My project is an acknowledgement of the fact that the physical layout of our environments is not directly describing and shaping the way we live or our societies are shaped. Non-spatial structures are playing a bigger role in societal processes than spatial ones. My project is trying to give these invisible processes spatial expression. Non-functional structures that highlight the non-functionality of postsocialist space. The monotony and monumentality of socialist spaces is contrasted with a design that expresses the multiplicity (of possibilities, paths, choices, desires) that exists nowadays. Orthogonal space is sliced up, perforated and at points overlaid without replacing it in it’s totality. ‘Non-functional’ elements are formal expressions of the realm of virtual space which permeates our lives and cities as well. These elements function in a more ‘internet’ fashion (multi layered, multi directional, yet clustered, streamlined etc) and yet they perform in the real world. Yet in the same time they are expressing our high-tech society without being hightech. Simultaneously, the presence of these structures addresses the condition of impermanence and change that play a strong role in the psyche of East Germans today. The multiplicity which is expressed by the project contrasts the rigidity of socialist architecture and society - and creates a link to remembering the past

What Is, What Will Be and How it Should Be

Drawings talk about more than just a building project, or an idea. They provide an insight into the means of production, the creators mind and the medial environment. Drawings are also instruments of communication and not only construction blue prints. They can bridge the gap in between what is, what will be and how it should be

Capturing Gathering Swarming - Re-coding Post-Communist Space in East Germany

My project is an acknowledgement of the fact that the physical layout of our environments is not directly describing and shaping the way we live or our societies are shaped. Non-spatial structures are playing a bigger role in societal processes than spatial ones. My project is trying to give these invisible processes spatial expression. Non-functional structures that highlight the non-functionality of postsocialist space. The monotony and monumentality of socialist spaces is contrasted with a design that expresses the multiplicity (of possibilities, paths, choices, desires) that exists nowadays. Orthogonal space is sliced up, perforated and at points overlaid without replacing it in it’s totality. ‘Non-functional’ elements are formal expressions of the realm of virtual space which permeates our lives and cities as well. These elements function in a more ‘internet’ fashion (multi layered, multi directional, yet clustered, streamlined etc) and yet they perform in the real world. Yet in the same time they are expressing our high-tech society without being hightech. Simultaneously, the presence of these structures addresses the condition of impermanence and change that play a strong role in the psyche of East Germans today. The multiplicity which is expressed by the project contrasts the rigidity of socialist architecture and society - and creates a link to remembering the past