It's only four years old, but Lyft is already proving it's more than just a ride-hailing app—it's a vision for the future. In May, reports surfaced that the San Francisco-based startup and General Motors would begin testing a fleet of self-driving electric cars starting in 2017. The benefits of such a fleet would be numerous; increased driving amongst the visually impaired and decreased driving amongst the inebriated are among the better examples. Telling your car to go pick up mom and dad from the airport will also prove convenient (even if you really should just do that yourself).

With this future in mind, GM invested $500 million in Lyft as part of a shared mission to deliver autonomous vehicles worldwide. Not only will self-piloting vehicles change how we commute, they could affect how we craft our cities and even buy cars. If Lyft co-founder Logan Green has his way, car ownership and operation will be a luxury, not a necessity. We may even purchase cars like we purchase smartphones—discounted and attached to a network. And that could forever transform the face of our cities, suburbs, and cars themselves.