In my opinion, most people have a very unrealistic view of what a world with self-driving cars will be like.
The reality is that it will be a fleet of cars run by your local transit district. For insurance purposes, they will stick to the slowest roads that they can, which means that you will never get above 30 miles per hour during your ride.
Another reality is that your ride will include stops to pick up and drop off other people along the way, making your already slow ride even slower.
Oh, you thought you were going to be allowed to own your own self-driving car? Not likely. However, you will be allowed to pay for the Premium service, which means you can have an unshared ride, with one pickup and one drop.
The rollout will be similar to how our current rideshare services like uber and lyft were rolled out. Larger cities first, then medium-sized cities a couple of years later.
In my opinion large government will keep a heavy hand on the whole thing. It is their opportunity to keep you in their centrally planned world of bike lanes, urban density, and single-payer healthcare. Your appointment with your healthcare provider.. will include your shared driverless car transportation.. to and from your visit.
I hope the future proves me wrong. I've been wrong before. But I fear that I am close to correct on this one.
- Grifffin