Part 8/13:
The broader impact of autonomous vehicles will ripple across transportation, insurance, and urban planning. The predicted displacement of public transit—as robotaxis become safer, cheaper, and more convenient—could drastically reduce the need for buses, taxis, and personal car ownership.
Key first-order effects:
Undercutting Uber and Lyft,
Ownership shift toward fewer, more efficient vehicles,
Reduced car sales but higher revenue per vehicle,
Disruption of the insurance industry due to fewer accidents and lower premiums,
Significant improvements in safety, with Tesla’s FSD already being ten times safer than human drivers based on old data.
Second-order effects:
- Less urban congestion due to decreased parking needs,