you honestly think self driving cars and ride sharing won’t replace private ownership for the majority of people you should get back in your carriage and whip your horse home.
For numerous reasons people aspire to owning private cars. Nowhere is that more clear than in China. For many it is a status symbol, others love driving, some like having a toy to modify and play with. You can see just how private cars are ingrained in our culture by looking at the volume of websites, magazines and tv shows that review and discuss them. Children grow up with pictures of super cars on their walls. Teenagers yearn for the day they can pass their driving test and buy their first car. It’s not just the freedom to go anywhere that it brings, it’s also the feeling of skilfully controlling something so powerful, having something valuable of your own to personalise and show off. We human beings love our possessions. Will the private car culture eventually be replaced by something else? Maybe, but it will be a very slow change that I don’t believe I will see complete in my lifetime.