One weird thing about autonomous car proponents is that they don't seem to understand how most people use cars. I assume these people tend to be drivers, because most people are, but maybe they're all just SF techbros who rely on Uber and so they don't actually get car ownership anymore than I should as a non-carowner.
A driverless car fantasy (aside from the fantasy that they'll work) is that individual car ownership will be significantly reduced as people can just hit the button on their phone and summon one. This could be true, a bit, in places where lots of people already don't own cars (urban hellholes), and don't rely on them for commuting, but it's hard to see how that works generally. The obvious issue is rush hour. People who rely on cars to commute all need cars at the same time.
Even aside from that, have you seen how families use cars? They're filled with car seats for the kids and toys and a water bottle and spare items and ... People store stuff in them. Stuff they want to be there when they get into the car, stuff they don't want to have to remember to lug out to the car every time they go somewhere.
It just isn't the case that everyone wants to travel by taxi, even if they're cheap (which they won't be, and also they won't work).
