Fair point, but it has a couple of differences which line up with the reasons people give for not using buses, trains, and planes. Those are: no need to fit th

Fair point, but it has a couple of differences which line up with the reasons people give for not using buses, trains, and planes. Those are: no need to fit the travel plan into the bus schedule and having a vehicle in the destination city for no extra charge. People aren't always right when asked about their own reasons for choosing one option over another, but I think in this case these are important motivators as they add to the cost in terms of both money and also the psychological "hassle" factor. Further there are social signals sent by how one travels, and buses have let themselves become, or targeted being, the option for low class travel (unless it is one's personal bus, but even then it is still below the personal plane). Autonomous cars would have the opportunity to aim their marketing toward them being seen as a desirable, upper middle class travel option (or the un-extravagant option for the more wealthy). The cars themselves will likely be more expensive than cars with no autonomous capabilities, so they easily send a signal of "well-to-do".