I used public transit, taxis and car sharing services exclusively until I started a family. At which point setting up the carseat every time became prohibitively cumbersome and I bought my own car. Children's car seats are very personal in terms of size and configuration and are required by law.
I think things like that will make people want their own self driving car. You want the one that fits your wife and two kids and your dog. Or you're rich and you want to be driven around in a really nice one that hasn't been used by other people.
The more I think about it, the more I imagine rich people increasing their car ownership due to self driving cars. Take your fleet with you to the cottage or across the country, why not?
(I have a toddler, so I drive a car with a child seat.)
I think we'll get over that attachment to specific car seats and instead more versatile seats will come into play.
In the future, I imagine your car booking app will recognise your usual bookings (e.g., solo/couple, family with one toddler, moving cargo) and you will tap a preset to book whichever car you need.
If your partner and kid are heading to a family engagement, up rolls a car with a baby seat pre-fitted and cleaned. If you're needing to move something large, a van shows up.
Those that want a premium service, will book the platinum tier, either all the time or maybe just for date night.
I fully agree with all of the above. I also feel that people who have the means to purchase a self-driving car will do so. The compromises necessary to make a vehicle appropriate for use by multiple users conflict with the comfort and luxury many people expect in a vehicle they spend hours each day in. Would you like to spend your hour commute each day in a bus or taxi seat when you can afford the comfort of a Mercedes, BMW or even Toyota seat?
I wish I could use car sharing and the baby seat issue is a problem with that. It seems easy to solve, though - I don't see why those couldn't be integrated into the cars by default. A lot of taxis already have that, they are just sometimes too lazy to take them out.
I don't know what you mean by personalized car seats - I think there are merely some variations dependent on size of the child? But car seats can grow along with the child, usually you can leave more and more stuff out the older the child gets?
Not sure why car sharing services overlook that atm - maybe because most families tend to own a car, so it is not a big market for them?
I think things like that will make people want their own self driving car. You want the one that fits your wife and two kids and your dog. Or you're rich and you want to be driven around in a really nice one that hasn't been used by other people.
The more I think about it, the more I imagine rich people increasing their car ownership due to self driving cars. Take your fleet with you to the cottage or across the country, why not?