In reply to Adam Miller.

I think that difference in the perception of "cars as freedom" has more to do with where someone is physically located. A car provides a significant amount of freedom for someone who lives in rural MN compared with someone who lives in the city. Cars do provide a certain degree of freedom that many who live in urban areas don't need. Sometimes I want to get somewhere that's 100 miles away and can't use transit or a bike. I don't think that means I need to own a car, just that I need some kind of service to get out there and buying a car isn't an option (in this case, I'd probably just rent for a day).

The market for business models such as Car2Go and Uber are somewhat useful when speculating on the ownership potential for AVs. I'm not sure either of those businesses is capable of reaching the suburbs and providing the level of service that we expect in the city (or at least, portions of the city...). And I think car ownership will always be higher in less dense places, but that in dense places, it is clearly unnecessary. And people are moving away from ownership across American society anyway, often preferring to rent and let someone else deal with the burdens of property ownership (and keeping flexibility - another important form of independence).