The research conducted by the Transport Systems Catapult (TSC) also found that the figure rises to as high as 62% amongst young professionals living in cities.

The research was conducted with the support of the Department for Transport (DfT), the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) and Innovate UK, as part of a Traveller Needs Study comprised of 10,000 online questionnaire respondents, 50 company interviews, and 100 expert interviews.

Rather than focusing on car owners, the study looked at transport users of all types, revealing a much higher than expected potential acceptance of autonomous technology.

Overall, the Traveller Needs Study revealed an increasingly progressive attitude amongst the UK’s transport users, which fed into attitudes towards autonomous vehicles. A total of 54% now consider a smart phone an essential part of their journey, whilst 57% would share personal data in order to improve their journeys.

TSC CEO Steve Yianni commented: “Drivers who use autonomous features could benefit from additional productive time, reduced fatigue and decreased congestion – not to mention the increased safety of self-drive technology. We think these figures demonstrate a growing awareness of these benefits.”

As previously announced, the Transport Systems Catapult is currently working on the LUTZ Pathfinder project, which will oversee the trial of three automated pods within Milton Keynes city centre, and assess their feasibility from both a technological and societal point of view.