Project: #376 Designing the Future of Transit Work Progress Report - Reporting Period Ending: Sept. 30, 2022 Principal Investigator: Sarah Fox Status: Overdue Project Start Date: July 1, 2021 End Date: June 30, 2022 Research Type: Applied Grant Type: Research Grant Program: FAST Act - Mobility National (2016 - 2022) Grant Cycle: 2021 Mobility UTC Progress Report (Last Updated: Oct. 7, 2022, 7:21 a.m.) % Project Completed to Date: 100 % Grant Award Expended: 100 % Match Expended & Document: 100 USDOT Requirements Accomplishments This project seeks to examine how transit work will transform as autonomous vehicle (AV) technology is applied to the complex operating environment of public transit. In the first couple of months of this project, we began conducting a landscape analysis of AV technologies within the realm of public transit. Alongside this, we also facilitated several planning meetings with our partners at the Transport Workers Union (TWU) and The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). Through these meetings we refined the research questions and activities such that they align with the conditions and issues facing (or likely to face) operators as AV tech becomes more prevalent in transit operations. After each meeting we developed the project planning documentation to reflect our discussions and shared with our collaborators. Through these discussions, our TWU and AFL-CIO collaborators have also recognized the potential to also partner with the Amalgamated Transit Union, the largest labor union representing transit and allied workers in the U.S. and Canada. Since the last project report in September, we have since finalized the landscape analysis circulating it both in the form of a written report and recorded presentation to our AFL-CIO, TWU, and ATU partners. We have also drafted and are preparing to circulate a policy brief on AV systems and transit, with colleagues in affiliated with the Traffic 21 institute at CMU. This is a research artifact we hope to see distributed to federal, state and local lawmakers considering policy on emergent autonomous technologies that have implications for the transit sector. Finally, we're in the midst of conducting focus groups with transit operators about their experience with and perceptions of AV systems, which we plan to wrap up in the next couple of weeks. Moving forward, over the last Spring and Summer, we will conduct follow interviews with operators and representatives from transit agencies and lead a diary study to complement and extend our focus group findings. With our most recent line of work as of September 2022, we're continuing empirical research with our union partners. Specifically, we're in the midst of conducting a diary study with operators from across the US and Canada. Our aim with this line of work is to expand our understanding the day-to-day work of bus operators, including but also in addition to driving (e.g., handling emergencies on and off the bus, diffusing assaults, navigating weather conditions, etc.). Coupling this with analysis from our focus groups earlier this year, we hope to contribute a set of findings to the fields of transportation, HCI and policy. Impacts Sept. 30, 2021 —  We are currently conducting a landscape analysis of autonomous vehicle technologies in relation to public transit. Specifically, we are documenting current and pending AV transit pilot programs or development plans (e.g., Automated Bus Consortium’s automated performance specification) and conducting a technology readiness assessment to estimate the reality and timeline for the deployment of different technologies. This landscape analysis will provide a concrete set of example technologies and services across various levels of automation that we will draw on in our later participatory workshops on designing the future of transit work, as well as to develop set of policy recommendations. Mar. 30, 2022 —  So far, we've shared drafts of our policy brief (mentioned above) with colleagues at TWU and the Transportation Trades Department at the AFL-CIO. The Block Center at CMU has also invited us to participate in a panel discussion on the impacts of AV on freight and transit, where we will share insights from our brief with the research community. As we continue to our empirical research, we will also prepare a practical roadmap for design and policy consideration for our partner organizations alongside drafting academic articles based on our findings. Sept 28, 2022 —  We've published our policy brief on the Traffic21 website and it has been circulated through popular and trade press outlets (articles listed below). Martelaro and Forlizzi were featured on a panel at the 29th AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ltlQOxCf04&ab_channel=AFL-CIO) , describing our collaboration with TWU and ATU. Finally, Fox attended the annual ATU Convention, sharing findings from our policy analysis and recruiting participants for our next phase of work together. Media coverage of “How to Make Sense of Bus Transit Automation?” policy report —  Report: These recommendations are what policymakers should consider while pursuing autonomous transit, Pittsburgh Business Times, 5/31/22 Autonomous transit buses will still need skilled operators, researchers say, SmartCitiesDive, 5/20/22 Human operators still essential in autonomous vehicles, says new CMU report, Pittsburgh City Paper, 5/27/22 Policy brief highlights challenges of autonomous mass transit adoption, Autonomous Vehicle International, 6/7/22 Will ‘Autonomous’ Buses Force Drivers Out of a Job — Or Make Them More Important Than Ever?, StreetsBlogUSA, 5/31/22 New research offers recommendations for integrating autonomous driving tech into public transportation, News8Plus, 6/6/22 Policymakers Considering Introducing Autonomous Driving Technology Into Public Transit Should Examine The Following Recommendations, QSPapers Automated buses will still need skilled human operators, GCN, 6/2/22 Mass transit agencies need to examine autonomous technologies, researchers find, Transportation Today News, 6/8/22 Recommendations for policymakers considering integrating autonomous driving tech into public transportation, TechStreetNow, 5/20/22 Headlined the ITS America Momentum Newsletter Other Phase 1 (Jul – Dec ‘21) — Research activities: Landscape analysis (Jul - Dec ‘21) Stakeholder interviews (Jul - Sept ‘21) Longitudinal diary study (Oct - Dec ‘21) Output:White paper/Policy Brief, featuring insights from empirical findings and recommendations [COMPLETE] Output: Academic publications and/or popular press pieces, possible venues: Transportation Research Board; Presenting to a legislative forum [IN PROGRESS] Phase 2 (Oct - Jun ‘22) — Research activities: Design workshops (Jan - Jun ‘22) [IN PROGRESS] Develop facilitation guidebook based on materials used in workshops and reflections on what worked well (May-Jun ‘22) [IN PROGRESS] Output: Strategic roadmap (Apr - Jun ‘22): a strategic roadmap featuring a set of design proposals for AV technologies that center on the future of transit work, as well as corresponding policy recommendations [IN PROGRESS] Output: Circulate facilitation guidebook (May-Jun ‘22) via project website, social media, press [UP NEXT] Output: Academic publication(s) (Apr - Jun ‘22); Target: ACM CSCW’23 and/or ACM CHI’23 [UP NEXT] Outcomes New Partners Since our last report, we've expanded our partnership team to include not only TWU and AFL-CIO, but also ATU. Issues No significant changes or issues have arisen to date.