[EVO X]

The biggest cost is not the vehicle but the driver. When that cost is gone, big companies will be able to reduce the cost per mile to be far less expensive than private ownership.

One of the problems I see with your scenario is rush hour. A company needs enough cars to meet demand for rush hour and peak travel times. The rest of the time a sizable amount of the fleet would sit idle.

[unlearner]

“A company needs enough cars to meet demand for rush hour and peak travel times. The rest of the time a sizable amount of the fleet would sit idle.”

All businesses experience this. But cars will be far less idle than they are now. In a cost-per-mile scenario, peak miles will probably cost more, which will serve to increase non-peak usage.

Uber functions 24/7 in big cities around the world. They also do delivery during non-peak hours. A service like theirs will not be able to meet everyone’s transportation needs with self-driving cars, but they will probably put a big dent in it. And car sales to consumers will probably decline until that is a very small percentage of cars on the road.