![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/TWU_Fightback2025_4c-e1765312155208.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThis is the monthly edition of the Transport Workers Union\u2019s Transportation Technology Newsletter. We aim to inform and educate our members, the labor movement, the public and policymakers about developments in transportation technology \u2013 and what the TWU is doing to ensure that new technology doesn\u2019t undermine safety or harm the livelihoods of hard-working blue-collar workers. For suggestions and questions, please email\u00a0ewytkind@gmail.com<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0adaugherty@twu.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n ITEM OF THE MONTH<\/p>\n ALL EYES ON HOCHUL: The\u202fNew York Times reports<\/a>\u202fthat Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s move to quash a Waymo robotaxi expansion in New York is due to her desire to get labor backing for her unrelated proposal to lower car insurance premiums. But Transport Workers Union International President John Samuelsen warned that Hochul is simply trying to wait out a reelection bid before returning to boosting Waymo, which currently has temporary permission to\u00a0operate\u00a0in NYC through the end of the month.\u202f\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cShe is going to get through her\u00a0election,\u00a0and\u00a0then\u00a0try to come out and stick it to everybody,\u201d Samuelsen told the New York Times about the likelihood of Governor Hochul restarting a push for driverless vehicles. \u201cI don\u2019t have any doubt in the world \u2014 I wish I could bet it in Vegas.\u201d\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n Hochul has flip-flopped in the last two months on robotaxis. In January, she included language in the state\u2019s budget that would have allowed robotaxi companies like\u00a0Waymo\u00a0and Uber to\u00a0operate\u00a0in the\u00a0state\u00a0beyond\u00a0New York City\u00a0with approval\u00a0from local governments. Then in February,\u00a0she reversed\u00a0course\u00a0and withdrew the proposal.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cKathy Hochul is an enemy of organized\u00a0labor,\u00a0and everyone should see her moves for what they are \u2013 an attempt to win reelection,\u201d Samuelsen said. \u201cShe has no qualms about giving Big Tech what they want once votes are counted. Transit workers, taxi drivers, and other blue-collar workers who\u00a0would\u00a0\u00a0see\u00a0their livelihoods threatened by unfettered robotaxi\u00a0expansion\u00a0should\u00a0not be duped\u00a0by her\u00a0last-ditch\u00a0approach at saving face.\u201d\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n WAYWARD WAYMOS IN TEXAS: Waymo also has faced continued issues in Texas, where state officials have\u00a0generally allowed\u00a0robotaxis to\u00a0operate\u00a0with less oversight. Video footage showed a\u202fWaymo blocking an ambulance<\/a>\u202fresponding to a mass shooting in Austin, where two people were killed and 13 were wounded. Waymo described the incident, where a police officer was forced to enter the vehicle and drive it away, as a \u201clearning opportunity\u201d according to Fox News. Separate videos showed Waymo vehicles in Austin stopped beyond railroad crossing gates as trains passed by,\u202fCBS Austin reports<\/a>. Waymo said that on at least two occasions, the vehicles braked about eight feet away from the tracks.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWaymo describes blocking first responders as a \u2018learning opportunity\u2019 which is corporate-speak for \u2018our technology isn\u2019t ready for urban streets,\u2019\u201d said TWU Administrative Vice President Curtis Tate. \u201cWe have seen continued incidents where\u00a0Waymos\u00a0block police, fire, and ambulances while also driving through literal crime scenes.\u201d\u202f\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n And the National Transportation Safety Board\u202fsaid in a\u202freport released last week<\/a>\u202fthat a recent incident (also in Austin) of a Waymo driving around a school bus loading passengers occurred after the Waymo asked a human remote\u00a0assistance\u00a0operator if it was acceptable to pass. Waymo recently told the U.S. Senate that\u00a0the majority of\u00a0their remote operators\u00a0are\u00a0located\u00a0in\u00a0the Philippines. The NTSB plans to make safety recommendations in response to the incident and dozens of similar incidents where\u00a0Waymos\u00a0drove around stopped school buses in Texas and Georgia.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWaymo and other Big Tech companies like to brag about their self-driving technology but still revert to humans sitting thousands of miles away to make safety decisions that otherwise would fall to a trained operator,\u201d Samuelsen said. \u201cThey can\u00a0talk\u00a0a big game, but when it comes down to it a human watching a camera makes the call.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0unacceptable.\u201d\u202f<\/p>\n WHAT ELSE IS COOKING\u00a0<\/p>\n ABOVE AND BEYOND: A TWU Bus Operator showed, yet again, the importance of having a human working on transit vehicles. Christopher\u00a0Accettulli\u00a0called 911 when a passenger on his B37 Bus in Brooklyn was in distress. It turned out the passenger was in active labor, and\u00a0Accettulli\u00a0helped to deliver the baby and kept it warm until first responders arrived,\u202fCBS New York reported<\/a>.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is another example of why a human worker on the bus or train is so important,\u201d said TWU Administrative Vice President Curtis Tate. \u201cIf Big Tech had their way, passengers would be trying to simultaneously deal with remote \u2018support\u2019 and first responders when an emergency arises. Christopher\u00a0Accettulli\u2019s\u00a0actions and training kept a mother and baby safe.\u201d\u202f\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Accettulli\u00a0said the \u201cbest feeling of all\u201d was returning to his route and getting\u00a0congratulations\u00a0from his frequent passengers about his quick thinking.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAfter I came back, after the baby was born, I started driving the bus again and my passengers that usually ride my bus were all congratulating me for doing such a good job,\u201d\u00a0Accettulli\u00a0said. \u201cThat felt good because it was heartwarming and they saw and appreciated everything I did.\u201d\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n STRATEGIZING IN FLORIDA: TWU transit, school\u00a0bus\u00a0and other locals from across the country came together in Fort Lauderdale to lay out plans for advocacy and bargaining over emerging automated technologies and artificial intelligence-powered systems.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is year seven of a national TWU initiative to ensure our members, not the Big Tech billionaires, determine the future of work and jobs in our industries,\u201d Tate said. \u201cThis meeting gave us a chance to build powerful mobilization and bargaining strategies for 2026 as we see the rapid acceleration of unproven, poorly regulated technologies that threaten\u00a0good jobs and safe and\u00a0high-quality\u00a0passenger service.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Local leaders and the TWU International developed responses to national technology and AI trends, shared successful bargaining strategies, and pledged to work together to counter the false and misleading narrative being pushed by the largest technology companies in the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that the autonomous vehicle and AI companies are pouring billions into finding new markets to sell their\u00a0technologies\u00a0and the transit sector is a target,\u201d Tate said.\u00a0\u201cTWU is committed to stopping\u00a0these dangerous\u00a0technologies from infiltrating the industries where our members work.\u00a0We have a plan and we are executing it.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n LEARNING FROM TWU: TWU\u00a0showcased\u00a0its industry-leading collective bargaining agreements on technology at a strategy\u00a0meeting\u00a0hosted by the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, a federation of 39 transportation unions. TWU Senior Director of\u00a0Government Affairs Zack Tatz, TWU Local 208 President Tyson Brown and TWU\u2019s Senior Technology\u00a0Advisor\u00a0Edward\u00a0Wytkind\u00a0(former TTD president) presented TWU\u2019s bargaining achievements and strategies in the meeting of several TTD affiliated union representatives.\u00a0<\/p>\n Local 208 has a groundbreaking collective bargaining agreement\u202fthat requires labor-management consensus before any automated technologies,\u00a0including autonomous\u00a0buses,\u00a0can be implemented at the Columbus, OH transit system, COTA. The agreement also requires a licensed operator to be onboard and in charge of any COTA vehicle in service regardless of the level of automation in the vehicle.\u00a0<\/p>\n TESLA TROUBLE IN TEXAS: Despite the fanfare, Tesla\u2019s Austin robotaxis, launched in June 2025, are crashing at an alarming\u00a0rate,\u00a0with five more accidents reported just in December and January. According to reporting in\u202fElectrek<\/a>, the reported crashes \u201cinclude a collision with a fixed object at 17 mph while the vehicle was driving straight,\u00a0a crash with a bus, a collision with a heavy truck at 4 mph, and two separate incidents where the Tesla backed into objects, one into a pole or tree at 1 mph and another into a fixed object at 2 mph.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe dangerous chaos we are seeing in our streets,\u00a0due to lenient government rules on robotaxi operations,\u00a0do not come as a surprise,\u201d Samuelsen said. \u201cWe\u2019ve said for years that these zombie robocars use flawed and unproven technology and too many state officials are greenlighting them without first adopting strict and enforceable safety regulations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Electrek\u00a0also reports that \u201cby Tesla\u2019s own benchmark, the company\u2019s robotaxi fleet crash rate is \u201c4 times\u201d higher than what Tesla says is \u201cnormal for a regular human driver.\u201d This rash of incidents comes on the heels of other stories\u00a0emerging\u00a0about Tesla robotaxis driving on the\u202fwrong side of the road<\/a>\u202fand \u201cbraking erratically.\u201d\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n AUTOMATED TRAIN IN LA?\u202fLA Metro is planning a $25 billion underground fully autonomous north-south train that will run between Van Nuys and Westwood, where UCLA is\u00a0located. The developers of this project claim\u00a040-80 minute\u00a0trips on this congested corridor using heavily traveled Interstate 405 will be\u202freduced to 20 minutes<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n