A big part of the actual value of "driverless" to :porky-happy: is using it as an extension of the privatized surveillance state. I've even had bazingas tell me directly that they want their future magic car to be "rented out" when they aren't using it so it's constantly making revenue for them as some wasteful version of mass transit with extra steps. They seem to want centralization through corporations and seem to want to be monitored and directed through the same but want that "freedom" illusion all the while because mass transit that does better for cheaper with a lot less waste involves being around the poors, and they can't have that.
Is that really all it is? Some techbro hangup about seeing poor people?
They think about the stuff they like and don't think about the rest. It truly isn't more complicated than that for nearly all of them.
They like cars, they like greenwashing to feel superior to the masses, they like fantasies of buying into the :my-hero: brand of Singularity(tm) promises, they like rubbing one out in a magic vehicle that makes fart sounds. Sounds about right.