Humans Should Drive Our Transit Future, Not Autonomous Vehicles

Transport Workers Union of America President John Samuelsen testified in front of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit this week as part the hearing, “The Road Ahead for Automated Vehicles." President Samuelson made the case that just like the pilots in command of a highly automated aircraft, human operators must be onboard all passenger transport vehicles no matter their level of automation.

"Transportation workers are committed to being on the frontlines of evolving transportation technologies," wrote President Samuelson in a TechCrunch piece published the same day as the hearing. "For us, innovation is a way of life; we’ve helped to implement decades of next-generation vehicles and systems. But what we’re seeing today isn’t just about innovating – it’s about disseminating unproven, poorly regulated driverless vehicles on our roads. The tech and corporate interests flooding communities with these vehicles are simply not being held to the highest safety standards or facing rigorous federal oversight and enforcement. That must change."