Who is asking for autonomous vehicles? Biased sample sure, but I've never heard anyone actually express a desire for it.
However in today's world there isn't a good option. Even if we would put in arbitrary subways, there are still jobs [like plumbers[ that cannot reasonably use transit. Thus self driving cars must be a part of my better future.
1) sleeping/reading/etc whilst driving long-distance 2) getting home from the city after drinks 3) pick up kids from school/practice (this would be a major time saver)