I know people in London who question the need for anyone to own a car because public transport is so good and you can get anything you want delivered next- or even same-day.
I also know people less than an hour's drive from London for whom public transport is 1 bus per day, so people set out in the mornings with everything they need in the car and operate out of it for the rest of the day, then pick up shopping or whatever on the way home. The former group have no idea that the latter even exist despite the latter being the "vast majority".
> The former group have no idea that the latter even exist despite the latter being the "vast majority".
This is exactly the case. It's really easy to forget when living in a city that the people out in the 'burbs dominate your bubble in terms of both size and influence.
I don't see the need for a car right now because I live in a city. But whenever I go back home, I'm reminded that living in the burbs without a car is usually impossible. It's not even that the buses are inconvenient -- they just don't exist.
Yeah, we have a reasonable bus route network for the country but you cannot actually travel from one major town to the next without using a car.
One of the impacts I see the self driving car having is a massive multiplier from being able to close this gap e.g. I could order goods from the next town.
Bad news for supermarkets. I think they will be wrecked by the competition self driving cars will bring.
I also know people less than an hour's drive from London for whom public transport is 1 bus per day, so people set out in the mornings with everything they need in the car and operate out of it for the rest of the day, then pick up shopping or whatever on the way home. The former group have no idea that the latter even exist despite the latter being the "vast majority".