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First of all, compared to taxis and app-based ride-hailing vehicles (Uber and Lyft vehicles), robotaxis may end up competing very well and driving those human-driven options out of the market. However, there’s a huge difference between that limited market and the normal passenger car market. Many robotaxi enthusiasts expect robotaxis will largely replace those normal passenger cars, which would be a truly disruptive market revolution.
Recent comments from longtime readers “Matthew2312” and “eveee” brought this topic to mind again. Here’s the extended comment from Matthew2312:
“Well we already have TAAS [Transportation as a Service] widely available in every market, right? That is literally what the taxi/ride hailing business is. Even more than that, we have courier services (including UberCourier) and delivery services which are also TAAS but where your stuff rides and not you. Then we have vehicle by the hour and vehicle by the day services from various rental car companies (and the failed business roster is littered with grab-and-go vehicle rentals that were going to change the world). IOW TAAS is here, it works, no automation required, we know the size of the market and its growth.
