The next step could be hooking up that self-driving mobile home to plumbing infrastructure on the company parking lot. Trailer park company town, here we come.

The next step could be hooking up that self-driving mobile home to plumbing infrastructure on the company parking lot. Trailer park company town, here we come. I share your concerns though, that we will get stuck with an automobile version of the representational train cars of the steam age unless we find ways to channel autonomous driving into mode-independent transportation as a service. Uber as a transitional saviour? Never thought I would write this. Next requirement: replace/upgrade street parking with theftproof mooring clamps for parcel delivery containers that can then be much smaller than a car (sized as needed), and that could be self-driving or dropped/picked up by a "mothership" truck depending on urgency and/or technology. With that service in place, you could just summon transportation for your shopping bags, alleviating the trunk anxiety often associated with mode-independent transportation as a service.