[derektank]

The opportunity cost of having a vehicle sit unused in a parking lot 90+% of the time is really high. We've only tolerated it for so long because human labor is and has been more expensive than the vehicle's depreciation. Autonomous taxis potentially flip the script on that assumption.

Sure, rich people will always have enough money to afford luxuries like privacy and comfort, but most people are price sensitive and will opt for the cheapest transportation solution that delivers them where they need to go in the fastest amount of time. I would wager this will be a Waymo type autonomous taxi service but time will tell.

[Spivak]

We're talking about personal vehicle ownership, there's no opportunity cost because you weren't going to make money on it anyway. My car sitting in my garage isn't costing me money nor is it losing value to me as a means of taking me and my stuff places. If you're one of the people that cares about the deprecation of your car's resale value then you're already doing the math on this and living a depressing life. But if you're like most normal car owners you bought a car to drive it and will replace it once you get your 200k miles out of it when its value is less than the $2000 minimum trade-in the dealership gives you.

The other problem is that I can't haul shit in a robo-taxi. Or drive long distances. People use their vehicles for more than just transporting bodies to and from work. And if I kill my neighbor I probably can't take his body in the trunk either. I would love to know what kind of life you and the other sibling commenters are living where a taxi service encompasses the totality of your transportation needs.

[ryoshoe]

Assuming that you're keeping the registration up to date, your car does cost some money to sit in your garage even it if you'd consider it a negligible amount