[tednaleid]

I think it's even better than this. A family doesn't need one car, it needs zero cars, it just needs to be able to use one or more cars on demand.

The average family uses their car probably less than 10% of the time. The rest of that time could be used by others.

Once self-driving cars are ubiquitous, I expect that an Uber-like service will be the norm. You either subscribe or rent per trip and schedule when and where you want to be picked up.

The service you subscribe to has a fleet of cars and knows when people want to be picked up and where they want to be dropped off, as well as whether you're willing to carpool on the way (for a discount). They can optimize the scheduling of their fleet in the same way that FedEx and UPS optimize their driving routes now.

The future is going to feel a little strange and I can't wait.

[malandrew]

Yeah, the optimal solution for society involves not owning cars at all. An individually owned car moving around between a small web of trust such as a family, is more likely to make empty trips than a car that drops people off and can pick up the closest person that needs its services.

I hope we one day see a future where you will only be allowed to own a vehicle for inter-city and rural travel. Suburbs and cities should all be serviced by one collectively fleet for all citizens of that city.