This is the monthly edition of the Transport Workers Union’s Transportation Technology Newsletter. We aim to inform and educate our members, the labor movement, the public and policymakers about developments in transportation technology – and what the TWU is doing to ensure that new technology doesn’t undermine safety or harm the livelihoods of hard-working blue-collar workers. For suggestions and questions, please email ewytkind@gmail.com or adaugherty@twu.org.
ITEM OF THE MONTH
UK Axes Driverless Bus Service Due to Lack of Interest, Shaky Performance After all the overheated hype about the “world’s first” scheduled autonomous passenger bus service launched in Scotland, the United Kingdom shut it down in February because “passenger adoption did not meet expectations.” Translation: it was a bust.
The 14-mile service attracted few passengers and encountered plenty of technical problems. There were steady reports that the so-called driverless bus, staffed with two employees, malfunctioned quite a bit and operated mostly in “manual mode” lately. It failed to meet its audacious passenger load projections, of up to 10,000 a week. This abrupt end to a failed experiment occurs after the management of this new service ridiculously bragged in 2023 that they would soon be able to “take the driver out of the cab,” a prediction that turned out to be hype.
“We aren’t surprised this driverless bus experiment has failed,” declared TWU Administrative Vice President Curtis Tate. “TWU has led the fight to protect passengers from premature adoption of unsafe autonomous buses in public transit. Drivers are the heartbeat of public transportation – they are the first responders during onboard incidents and health, road and weather emergencies.”
This is yet another setback for the autonomous vehicle industry that is partnering with deep-pocketed investors who are making a big bet on autonomous vehicle technology despite high profile safety failures and shuttered operations in the robotaxi sector.
NOBODY WANTS THIS: On this side of the Atlantic, AAA’s latest survey on autonomous vehicles shows that just 13% of U.S. drivers trust riding in a self-driving vehicle. While that figure is up slightly from 2024, 60% of drivers still report that they are afraid to drive in a self-driving vehicle, figures that are higher than they were three years ago. And the data also shows that drivers prefer the enhancement of safety technology – a position shared by the TWU – over the development of self-driving technology.
“The traveling public’s attitude towards autonomous vehicles is the same position as the TWU: Big Tech and car manufacturers should prioritize safety improvements instead of shoddy autonomous technology,” said TWU International President John Samuelsen. “We’ll continue to fight against automation attempts that bring increased safety risks while threatening jobs.”
WHAT ELSE IS COOKING
DRONING ON: NASA and Boeing are propelling a startup company, Near Earth, that claims it can cut aircraft inspection times from “hours” when performed by humans in a “harness” to less than 30 minutes. The drone system is in beta testing in seven defense bases across the country and since 2019 has conducted tests with their drone system on Boeing aircraft used by American Airlines and Emirates Airlines.
Near Earth is NASA-funded and is also advancing this technology in partnership with Boeing claiming cost savings for airlines and maintenance, repair and overhaul organizations, or MRO’s, of an “average of $10,000 an hour in lost earnings during unplanned aircraft time on ground.”
In a blog post, NASA said: “We are excited to see this technology spin out to industry to increase efficiencies, safety, and accuracy of the aircraft inspection process for overall public benefit,” adding the drones can “look for cracks, popped rivets, leaks, and other common issues.”
WAYMO MOVES: Despite the consumer concerns about autonomous rides, Waymo continues to expand. The Verge reports that Waymo will expand to 10 new cities this year, starting with Las Vegas and San Diego. For now, vehicles will be manually driven with the aim of “challenging our system,” according to Waymo product manager Nick Rose, and seeing if the vehicles can adapt to new cities after driving many miles in San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles.
“The reality is Waymo is using the new deployments to see if automated rideshare operations can be started up quickly in new markets – without years of testing to ensure the safety of riders and the traveling public,” said TWU International Administrative Vice President Curtis Tate. “Ultimately, the goal is to compete with public transit systems for riders with unproven tech.”
Waymo also announced earlier this month that paid rides are coming to Austin, the second city after Phoenix where the robotaxis are bookable through the Uber app. The announcement is the first step of a major partnership between the robotaxi company and ride hailing service that was announced last year. Waymo-via-Uber rides are also expected to come to Atlanta soon, Axios reports.
PERK WITH DOWNSIDES: Tesla is offering drivers an insurance discount who use the company’s controversial “Full-Self Driving” system – in order to siphon data that can be used to assist in the deployment of robotaxis, the Houston Chronicle reports. Drivers will be incentivized to drive in “Full-Self Driving” mode more often, with up to a 10 percent discount on insurance premiums if they drive 50 percent or more of their miles with the feature enabled. The discounts apply to Tesla drivers in Arizona and Texas.
“This is clearly a move to accelerate the deployment of robotaxis that aren’t ready for the traveling public,” said TWU International President John Samuelsen. “And it is no coincidence that the discounts are being offered in two states with the least amount of safety regulations for autonomous vehicles.”
Elon Musk said in January Tesla aims to roll out paid rides starting in June in Texas, Reuters reports. The wire service writes that the aggressive rollout is “raising questions about how much safety and legal risk Tesla is willing to take on as it deploys unproven driverless technology on public streets.”
Tesla is also making moves in California, as the Los Angeles Times reports the company filed for permits that would enable Tesla to deploy transportation services with company-owned vehicles and human drivers, the first step towards autonomous transportation. The Times reports that the permit filing is a signal that it wants to enter the autonomous market in California.
WHAT WE’RE READING
“Elon Musk’s DOGE comes for agency that regulates autonomous vehicles.” TechCrunch.
“Driverless Buses Trying to Make Inroads in Public Transit?” IEEE Spectrum.
“Lyft Targets 2026 Robotaxi Launch.” TechCrunch.