[Xymist]

It also needs to be able to do this _literally door to door_ and without having to sit next to, speak to, or touch anyone I don't know.

Cars are a privacy bubble and a shield, not just a transport mechanism; no form of mass transit will ever be an acceptable substitute in the way that, for me, is the most important factor.

[consteval]

Part of existing in a society is the fact you will interact with other people. There are places - particularly rural - where this is not the case. Such places would probably never not be automobile-centric, as it makes no sense to run lines to low populous, sparce areas.

But if you live in an urban area, the "cost tradeoff" of having everything close is there's more likelihood to be around people. It's untenable to have the desire to have 10 grocery stores, 5 banks, 3 schools etc within 5 miles of you and also have no people interaction. Who runs those places? And who goes to them? The privacy cars provide is therefore mostly an illusion.

Also, I wouldn't describe an automobile as a shield, considering it's by far the thing most likely to kill you. It's a sword, if anything.