Lyft’s co-founder, John Zimmer, believes that by 2021, the majority of the firm’s U.S. ride-sharing services will come from self-driving cars and that car ownership in cities will end by 2025.
During a blog post, Zimmer detailed his ambitious plans for the future of Lyft as it embarks on autonomous vehicle development alongside General Motors, believing that in the coming years, the entire automotive industry will change.
Zimmer went on to assert that by 2025, car ownership in major cities around the world will die out almost completely, as millennials opt out from owning cars and instead rely on ride-sharing services, set to drop drastically in price in the coming decade.
“Once autonomous networks provide better service at a lower cost, our country will pass a tipping point. And by 2025, owning a car will go the way of the DVD. Until then, over the next five to 10 years there will be both driver and driverless cars on the road, which we call a hybrid network,” said Zimmer.
According to Zimmer, “We see car ownership as a burden that is costing the average American $9,000 every year. The car has actually become more like a $9,000 ball and chain that gets dragged through our daily life. Owning a car means monthly car payments, searching for parking, buying fuel, dealing with repairs.
“Ridesharing has already begun to empower many people to live without owning a car. The age of young people with driver’s licences has been steadily decreasing ever since right around when I was born,” he said.
When Lyft’s autonomous vehicle fleet begin offering driverless rides, Zimmer thinks they’ll initially be limited to speeds of around 25 mph (40 km/h).
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