Will AI replace Subway and Streetcar Operators?
Estimated risk score: 46 out of 100
Moderate replacement risk
Estimate from published task research, not reviewed by a person · how we estimate
Within about 19 points for 4 in 5 of the jobs we checked (27 to 65).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 12 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 53-4041.00 · Transportation and Material Moving
Tasks rated in 2023 as ones AI could do or speed up
Tasks a GPT-4-class model could do, or do in half the time or less: 6 of its 12 rated tasks; the first 4 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Make announcements to passengers, such as notifications of upcoming stops or schedule delays.
- Complete reports, including shift summaries and incident or accident reports.
- Greet passengers, provide information, and answer questions concerning fares, schedules, transfers, and routings.
- Report delays, mechanical problems, and emergencies to supervisors or dispatchers, using radios.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 6 of its 12 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Direct emergency evacuation procedures.
- Monitor lights indicating obstructions or other trains ahead and watch for car and truck traffic at crossings to stay alert to potential hazards.
- Operate controls to open and close transit vehicle doors.
- Regulate vehicle speed and the time spent at each stop to maintain schedules.
- Attend meetings on driver and passenger safety to learn ways in which job performance might be affected.
- Drive and control rail-guided public transportation, such as subways, elevated trains, and electric-powered streetcars, trams, or trolleys, to transport passengers.
What the job is
Operate subway or elevated suburban trains with no separate locomotive, or electric-powered streetcar, to transport passengers. May handle fares.
Also called: Rail Operator, Light Rail Operator, Rapid Transit Operator (RTO), RTO, Trammer, Tram Driver, LRV Operator, Subway Conductor.
Closest jobs we score by hand
In the same field (Transportation and Material Moving). Different jobs, each scored by a person.
Source. This site includes information from the O*NET 30.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. (O*NET, CC BY 4.0.) Task ratings: Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock (2023), “GPTs are GPTs: An Early Look at the Labor Market Impact Potential of Large Language Models”, data used under the MIT licence (licence texts). Our change: we averaged the ratings over this occupation’s tasks and calibrated them to our 0–100 scale. It is not a prediction about any one person and not career advice. Disagree? Write to hello@yourstopwashit.com. How we estimate