Understanding The Future Of Mobility: On-Demand Driverless Cars

This is what we are being 'nudged' toward. And if the nudging doesn't work, well, as someone said a couple weeks ago:

...The way this is going to pan out is: you won't be able to own the vehicle but its use will be mandated. The car is autonomous but the people aren't....  

Okay, it was me. But the article the self-reverential referential quote is from also had a pull-quote:

"Uber's goal is to replace private car ownership"

So there.
From TechCrunch:

We recently had the opportunity to participate in two important conferences focused on the future: one on the on-demand economy (On Demand Economy 2015) and the other on mobile communications (Rutberg Future Mobile 2015).

While each conference covered a range of fascinating topics, if taken together, one can develop from the conversations and presentations a clear picture of the future of mobility. This future, creating both great opportunities and economic dislocations, is being driven by established tech players as well as a new generation of innovative startups.

We see three key trends shaping mobility, both personal and commercial: the move to on-demand mobility, the impact of driverless vehicles and the growth of electric vehicles.

Together, these trends will bring about a future that is safer, cheaper, offers more choices and is more resource efficient.

In an early sign of the changes to come, last week it was reported that Uber’s CEO is planning to buy 500,000 of Tesla’s autonomous vehicles as soon as they are available. Why is Uber willing to make this bet, and why are the plans of these companies so important to the future of mobility?
Let’s examine each of the trends in turn.

On-Demand Mobility
On-demand mobility is without doubt one of the most important trends in transportation and in the global economy today. And by this we mean mobility (moving people, goods or services) based on a mobile app that allows for ease of scheduling and payment.

The recent and ongoing exponential growth of ride sharing, car sharing and last-mile delivery services is just the beginning of a global shift away from personal vehicle ownership to a shared, on-demand model.

According to the Economist, car sharing alone will reduce car ownership at an estimated rate of one shared vehicle replacing 15 owned vehicles.

The cost of vehicle ownership, increasing commute times, limitations on infrastructure expansion, the need to conserve resources and cut greenhouse emissions and even the change in the relationship between the millennial generation and automobiles are all contributing to the growth in on-demand mobility. So much so that we believe within three-five years most miles driven in urban settings globally will be on shared platforms (ride share, last-mile delivery, car share and public transit).

That may seem shocking to those of us in the West, but consider what is happening in the two most populous nations on earth, India and China. At present, only about 5 percent of Indians own a personal vehicle, and already the roads are jammed almost to the point of impassibility. The same is happening in China....MORE

See also:
The End Of Mass Car Ownership Is Coming Mr. Ford