FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 26, 2020
Contact: Travis Reuther – treuther@twu.org
Statement: Public Transit Safety Should Not Be Trusted to Heartless Robots
In response to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s decision to suspend service on driverless vehicles in Columbus, OH after a rider was injured when a shuttle abruptly stopped for unknown reasons, the following statement should be attributed to John Samuelsen, International President, Transport Workers Union of America (TWU):
“This technology is a danger to transport workers and to the general public. The city of Columbus should not trust the safety of transit riders to heartless robots. Rather than treating the residents of Linden like guinea pigs, we need to ensure access to safe public transportation with trained professional operators in control before more people get hurt.”
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The Transport Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO, represents more than 150,000 workers in the airline, railroad, transit, universities, utilities and services sectors.