[bb611]

That's practical, and for people like you and me who aren't bothered by the idea of not owning our own vehicle, but it's very culturally desirable in the US to own a personal vehicle. Not an unsolvable problem, but it will definitely be a bump in the road.

[zobzu]

i don't think its an issue. live in the city? dont own a car. just like today. uber is way cheaper than owing a car.

live in the gonnies? own a car. hailing one would take forever. having cars near you in the gonnies,that you dont own wouldn't be economical.

basically, there would be less vehicule owners but not that many less.

[rebuilder]

I do wonder how many people living in cities would still choose to own a car if they could just get a self-driving one on demand.

For example, friends of mine recently bought a summer cottage. It's a little over an hour's drive. They don't have a car, so they currently rent one or try to borrow one when they want to go there. Once there, the car will probably sit still for a week.

Currently, there's no really good solution to this. Renting is expensive if you just need to drive a couple of hours a week. Buying a car might make more economic sense in the long term, but it's still pretty expensive for the purpose. Taxi rides like that cost an arm and a leg too. But if the car could drive itself out of the woods...

Of course it's a question of pricing, and I'm guessing we're still some way off from having self-driving cars navigate dirt paths that pass through people's yards as is the case here.