No cost advantage for robotaxis

Whether robotaxis will really prove cheaper than buying your own car depends heavily on where you live — and how much inconvenience you’re willing to put up with.

Self-driving cabs have been touted as a panacea to the drawbacks of conventional vehicle ownership, from environmental pollution to congestion to highway crashes. The Trump administration has championed autonomous vehicle technology, and companies from electric carmaker Tesla to Google’s Waymo and General Motors have invested millions of dollars.