Philadelphia has embraced automation with the arrival of Uber Eats delivery robots. But could the city soon see self-driving SEPTA buses joining the ranks of automated vehicles? This question has sparked a lively debate, weighing the benefits of advanced technology against the concerns of labor unions and safety advocates.
The idea of autonomous SEPTA buses is not yet a reality, but state Rep. Ben Waxman is taking proactive measures. He is drafting a bill that would require any transit vehicle using an automated driving system and weighing over 10,000 pounds to have a licensed driver on board. This proposal comes amid rapid advancements in artificial intelligence and automation across various industries.
Technological Feasibility and Global Examples
While the concept of self-driving buses is still in its infancy in the United States, other parts of the world have already embraced this technology. In Asia and Europe, various types of automated or AV transit buses are in operation. For instance, small “robobuses” are navigating the streets of several Chinese cities, and full-size buses in Norway began carrying passengers without a driver earlier this year.
In the U.S., AV taxis from companies like Tesla, Google’s Waymo, and Amazon’s Zoox are already plying the streets in a dozen cities. Waymo vehicles, with human operators, are being tested in Philadelphia. Automated shuttles have been piloted in various locations, including Philly’s Navy Yard. A few transit authorities are running small AV shuttle services in cities like Jacksonville and Atlanta.
Safety and Labor Concerns
One of the primary concerns surrounding autonomous buses is safety. State Rep. Ben Waxman emphasized the potential for a “catastrophic” technological mishap involving a fully automated bus full of passengers operating in a densely populated city. He also highlighted the Transit Workers Union’s concerns about potential job losses. “This is a public agency. These are good jobs, decent-paying jobs with benefits, and we need more of those in Philadelphia, not less,” he said.
Will Vera, president of Transit Workers Union Local 234, shared similar sentiments. He believes SEPTA management wants self-driving buses to reduce staffing and save money. Vera argued that the authority’s New Bus Network project, which launches later this month, is designed to make routes more straightforward for potential autonomous vehicles. “Our system is actually designed perfectly, to be honest. There was no reason to restructure the lines,” he argued.
Cost Savings and Public Transportation Advocates
The idea that AVs could cut costs and help transit agencies cope with a national driver shortage has some traction among public transportation advocates and conservative spending hawks. When Waxman posted about his proposed bill on X, commenters accused him of “hamstringing” the financially beleaguered authority or trying to stick SEPTA with “costly specialized labor.”
However, experts differ on the potential cost savings. Awad Abdelhalim, assistant director of research at the MIT Transit Lab, noted that while there could be savings in insurance and other places, automating buses wouldn’t lead to substantial cost savings. “Whatever you save in labor, you need it in compute, you need it in cloud, you need it in whatever it is that maintains those systems,” he said.
SEPTA officials have stated they have no plans to acquire any fully-automated buses. “There’s nothing that’s on our horizon right now. We buy buses pretty regularly, and our next bus procurement, we don’t have anything really spec’d into that at this point in time,” said Ryan Judge, the authority’s senior director of strategy and analysis.
The debate over autonomous SEPTA buses continues, with safety, labor, and cost considerations at the forefront. As technology advances, Philadelphia will need to carefully weigh the benefits and drawbacks of embracing this innovative transportation solution.
