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

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION WIN:  The bipartisan Surface Transportation Reauthorization bill introduced by Representatives Sam Graves (R-MO) and Rick Larsen (D-WA) is a massive win for workers fighting to preserve jobs and increase safety as autonomous vehicle technology develops beyond robotaxis to transit buses, motorcoaches, school buses and other commercial vehicles, TWU International President John Samuelsen said.

This bill would set, for the first time, a national federal standard for such commercial AVs to guarantee they are safe before they are put on our streets. This standard includes human oversight and the ability for humans to intervene, as necessary, to keep these vehicles safe.

“This is a massive win for workers and the riding public,” Samuelsen said. “The bill sets critically important guardrails for the next wave of autonomous vehicles and advances our top priorities: protecting the employment of our members and ensuring the Wild West chaos that has occurred with the roll out of robotaxis is not repeated. We’ve said from the very beginning that technology should assist Bus Operators, not recklessly replace them and throw them into unemployment.”

The bill also directs the DOT to establish a second set of operating rules to address safety-related duties performed by Bus Operators other than operating the vehicle. The bill directly requires qualified drivers to operate yellow school buses and hazmat vehicles.

TWU Administrative Vice President Curtis Tate said, “The human component of public transportation cannot be replaced by a robot or algorithm. They do a hell of a lot more than operate buses. They are another set of eyes and ears for law enforcement and medical first responders, assist the disabled boarding and exiting, give directions and much more, including on occasion comforting and aiding pregnant mothers going into labor before reaching the hospital. They are invaluable.”

WHAT ELSE IS COOKING 

FLOODING THE ZONE: The New York Times reports that Waymo is recalling software in thousands of robotaxis because they could be allowed to drive into flooded roads, according to concerns raised by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

On April 20, an unoccupied Waymo vehicle entered a flooded road in San Antonio and continued to drive on despite the road being “untraversible” according to NHTSA. A Waymo spokesperson characterized the serious safety threat as an “identified area of improvement,” seriously downplaying the issue.

“It is absurd that Waymo and other robotaxis think that software updates and referring to vehicles driving into floods is an ‘area of improvement,’” Tate said. “The traveling public should not be used as lab rats while these tech companies put their riders and everyone around them at risk.”

DRIVING IN CIRCLES: A neighborhood in suburban Atlanta saw dozens of unoccupied Waymos circling their cul de sacs, WSBTV reports, the latest example of public nuisances caused by the robotaxis, which have previously honked their horns overnight in a San Francisco parking lot. Residents complained that over 50 Waymos at a time have entered cul de sacs early in the morning and in one instance blocked roads after a resident put up a sign to try to get them to alter their route.

“It might look humorous to see dozens of Waymos driving on a residential street, but it is a public nuisance and a safety issue,” Samuelsen said. “These companies are never held accountable for behavior that would get human drivers a ticket and public roads should not be free storage for these billion dollar companies waiting for their next tech bro passenger.”

AIR TAXIS COMING TO NYC? Joby Aviation plans to launch air taxi service in New York City between Manhattan and John F. Kennedy International Airport. The company says it plans to inaugurate service by the end of the year, pending approval from the Federal Aviation Administration. Joby will deploy all-electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVOTL) that take off and land vertically like a helicopter and fly like an airplane. Joby claims its aircraft, which carry four passengers and a pilot, will shorten trips from Manhattan to JFK International Airport to a few minutes. Joby is utilizing existing Manhattan heliports for the flights.

Consistent with TWU’s push for aggressive federal regulation of autonomous vehicles, TWU has argued to federal transportation and aviation regulators that eVOTL air taxis and any emerging advanced air mobility technologies must face “rigorous scrutiny and regulation” and that a “laissez-faire approach to safety regulation” would put the flying public at risk.

MORE DRIVERLESS BUSES: Norway is unleashing a full size driverless buses on its roads operated by Vy, a national state-owned transit company, and Kolumbus, a regional transit authority. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration is lifting the requirement in limited areas that human operators be onboard the 52-passenger capacity Turkish-built Karsan buses. The next phase of approval would greenlight widespread deployment on public roads.

“Forcing passengers to fend for themselves in a bus without a human operator onboard is irresponsible and dangerous,” said TWU International President John Samuelsen. “In the US we are seeing autonomous vehicles drive into crime scenes and emergencies and speed by school buses in violation of road safety laws. And remotely supervised robotaxis including those operated by Tesla are crashing – regulators around the world should reject this flawed and menacing attempt to replace licensed onboard drivers.”

WHAT WE’RE READING

Driverless Cars Get Green Light from NJ Senate Panel. New Jersey Monitor. 

Uber pouring $10 billion into robotaxis? Electrek. 

Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary deploying driverless rigs across US Sun Belt. CNBC. 

Amazon’s Zoox testing robotaxis in 10 cities. Smart Cities Dive.