Full Breakdown
U.S. Cities Accelerate Plans for Driverless Subway Lines
By Drooid · · How we work
Background & Context
Mass-transit operators in the United States have long relied on onboard drivers, even as driverless taxis and autonomous vehicles become commonplace. Honolulu’s Skyline light-metro, launched three years ago, remains the nation’s only fully automated passenger rail system. Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles are now pursuing larger-scale automation. Proponents argue the U.S. lags behind Europe, Asia, Canada and Australia, where unattended metros operate routinely.
Timeline
- 2009 – A collision near the Fort Totten station on the D.C. Red Line killed nine people; the NTSB blamed a maintenance fault in the automated signaling system.
- 2024 – “Cruise-control” automation on the Red Line was restored after a decade-long pause.
- April 2026 – WMATA Board approved a nearly $1 billion plan to add safety barriers and other upgrades that could enable driverless operation on the Red Line as early as 2033.
- 2026 (ongoing) – Los Angeles Metro is conducting an environmental review for a new 19-mile underground line through the Santa Monica Mountains that would run without onboard operators.
Data & Statistics
- The D.C. automation plan is budgeted at approximately $1 billion.
- The proposed Los Angeles line would be 19 miles long, using shorter, more frequent trains.
- The 2009 Fort Totten crash resulted in nine fatalities.
Official Statements & Responses
Vance Tsuda, project director for the Red Line upgrade, said a fully automated system eliminates human error such as “overlooking an open door” and that the system has recorded no crashes or injuries since automation was reinstated.
Baruch Feigenbaum, senior managing director of transportation policy at the Reason Foundation, said successful automation of a major line in Washington or Los Angeles would signal that the technology is “doable” and could encourage other U.S. systems to follow suit.
Criticism & Opposition
John Samuelsen, international president of the Transport Workers Union, warned that driverless trains are “a catastrophe waiting to happen.” He contended that passengers could be forced to “self-evacuate” in an emergency on a third-rail system, creating a serious safety risk.
Why It Matters
If the automation projects proceed, U.S. transit agencies could reduce long-term labor costs and align with international standards for unattended rail. Safety concerns rooted in the 2009 crash and union opposition highlight the need for robust safeguards before fully removing human operators.
Verbatim Quotes
- “It should be much harder to automate something that’s on-road, that has all of these various obstacles coming at it, compared to a fixed-rail system,” — Baruch Feigenbaum
- “That was a big failure, there’s no question. We do not do anything like that now,” — Randy Clarke
- “Passengers will be left dealing with a self-evacuation, which is a disaster in a system which runs on a third rail,” — John Samuelsen
- “If you have somebody making that decision, they could make a wrong decision,” — Vance Tsuda, the system's project director
- “We allow a certain amount of failure with private industry that we don’t tolerate when the state does it,” — King, associate professor of urban planning at Arizona State University