What do you think about self-driving cars?

Maintenance costs will mean most people aren't going to be able to afford a car. They will require frequent inspections and rigorous maintenance standards to maintain safety, to say nothing of the cost of the car itself. No more driving around on mis-matched tires, a wonky alignment, or any of the host of sensors that will keep it on the road. The road tax or registration will be expensive, because roads will need to be maintained to a higher standard than is normal now, and some remote or lessor used roads will likely be shut down entirely to vehicular traffic. Then you have the navigation subscriptions that will be required before it even leaves the house. You might be able to mitigate that slightly by watching ads in the car or being delivered to competing places of business rather than the place you originally wanted to go. The government will know where you go at all times, because you have to enter your destination before each trip.

What does make more sense and gives a greater freedom to the majority would be self driving only vehicle lanes, that deliver passengers to major centers, where they would transfer to alternative transport. Instead of owning a car, you pay a subscription for a certain class of car. You would hail one just like a cab, sans driver, and with the level of comfort you expect. It would drop you off at the train in the morning for a commute to work, then go back and pick up the kids for school, then stop by the grocery store for an order of food, off to take the kids to soccer practice, then pick you up at the train station, etc. Those tasks might be just for your family, or it might be shared across several families depending on the use case and budget.

Private and personally piloted machines would still exist for more complicated journeys, with some rudimentary communications available between them and the automated cars when paths crossed as well as basic self piloting. However, these cars would be more expensive because they have the option of greater flexibility and risk of human control.

People on the lower socio-economic scale will be back to bikes, walking, bus, and train. They won't be able to afford these rides. The potential scope of their travels are likely to shrink.

/r/cars Thread