New York's MTA considers flying drones to keep watch over buses
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The transit agency is so far just seeking “information” about the possibility of using flying vehicles to “manage and oversee its bus operations” but union officials balk at the idea of replacing humans on the ground.
This article was originally published by The City.
The MTA is looking to potentially deploy drones as eyes in the sky that would provide additional insights on its fleet of close to 6,000 buses.
A document posted to the transit agency’s website last week says New York City Transit’s Department of Buses is reaching out to qualified vendors for ways to “manage and oversee its bus operations more effectively” through an aerial vehicle program that would be used within bus depots, at outdoor depot parking lots and along bus service routes.
“DOB envisions the deployment of one or more drones to survey these depot facilities at regular time intervals and to transit their findings to inform a real-time ‘map’ of the buses,” reads the request for information, which asks that potential vendors submit information on newly developed or off-the-shelf technologies by Dec. 18.
According to the document, the MTA is exploring ways to use throughout its 28 bus depots in the city and to provide insights on traffic patterns along bus service routes.
Informed by THE CITY of the MTA’s interest in dispatching drones to track buses, union representatives for bus service supervisors and dispatchers said that the use of drones — which the transit agency described as “low-cost, low-footprint aerial vehicles” — could translate to job losses.
Michael Carrube, president of the Subway-Surface Supervisors Association, said that using drones to track the inventory management of buses in depots and in outdoor depot parking lots is “alarming” and “concerning” because those are roles handled by bus supervisors.
“We do that work, that’s our job,” Carrube told THE CITY. “How the hell is a drone going to do that job?”
Carrube added that the use of drones would have to be bargained with the workforce.
“The transit authority does not consult with the union,” he said. “They do their own thing and then expect us to go along with it.”
The SSSA, with more than 3,000 members, is the second-largest transit union for MTA workers. It represents bus dispatchers and maintenance supervisors in Brooklyn and on Staten Island, as well as supervisors in the subway system.
Philip Valenti, president of the Transit Supervisors Organization/Transport Workers Union Local 106, said he was caught off guard by the prospect of the MTA turning to drones to provide additional data about its buses, which are all equipped with GPS.
“That definitely concerns me for sure,” he said. “This is just the beginning steps to replacing supervision with technology.”
Valenti said supervisors play vital roles in providing bus service.
“They’re talking to the customers, they’re talking to the operators,” he said. “They’re adjusting the buses right there on the street.”
The MTA runs buses around the clock, with 58,750 trips daily on 252 local and express routes citywide that regularly carry more than 1 million riders on weekdays, according to data.
Kayla Shults, a spokesperson for the transit agency, declined to respond to the concerns raised by the unions and provided a statement quoting from the request for information.
“Regarding the use of drones for depot inventory management, DOB wishes to address the challenges of maintaining accurate and up-to-date vehicle location tracking for both its buses parked within depot buildings and outside in uncovered parking lots,” read the statement.
While the MTA is looking at potentially entering the market for eyes in the sky, the transit agency has already relied on information gathered by NYPD drones that, over the last year, have been dispatched to outdoor subway lines plagued by daredevils “surfing” on top of moving trains.
NYPD officials last month revealed that 900 drone flights launched over outdoor lines had caught 114 people — ranging in age from 9 to 33 — in the act of subway surfing.
Mayor Eric Adams cited the cost-efficient nature of drones as a tool to combat subway surfing, which has become increasingly common in recent years, fueled, in part, by social media videos of daredevils atop trains.
“These flights are pennies on the dollar,” Adams said at the time. “This is an inexpensive way of handling the expense of losing a loved one or child.”
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