We could go with tried and true methods, like trains, buses, etc. Much better overall result, but yes, not a simple change.

In any case, the sooner we take the steering wheel out of human hands, the better. Too many people are unfit to drive.

Many middle-class Boomers are are emotionally invested in their houses, which locks them into their cars. They were taught to tie their self worth to their big house in the suburbs, and our car-based transportation infrastructure was designed to get them into those houses. Now they are living in houses they do not need in low-density areas but they will not move not because they like driving, but because they cannot imagine living in an apartment.

My mom does not like cars, does not like driving, and is not a safe driver, but will not consider moving out of her house that she has been in for forty years. So she keeps driving.

Most people that have reached the point of the person in that article would probably spend less just hiring a cab when necessary than they do on car maintenance, gas, insurance… It doesn’t solve the issue for rural elders, that’s all.