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No human staff on MTA trains? Bill on Hochul’s desk would halt that vision in its tracks
By
Jon Campbell
Published Sep 8, 2025
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By
Jon Campbell
Published Sep 8, 2025
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Picture this: The subway pulls up to the platform, but there’s no conductor on board to open the doors — just a train operator in the front, or perhaps no one at all.
That’s the vision some transit advocates have for New York City’s expansive train system, which currently has two-person crews on nearly all of its lines, unlike the one-person or fully automated trains in major cities like London, Paris and Washington, D.C.
A bill headed for Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk aims to stop that vision in its tracks.
The governor, a Democrat, has until the end of the year to sign or veto legislation that would effectively mandate two-person train crews on all passenger trains in the New York City public-transit system.
The Transport Workers Union, which has spent more than six decades fighting efforts to automate trains in New York City, scored a major victory in June, when state lawmakers overwhelmingly — and suddenly — passed the bill, which had languished in the Legislature since 1995.
But the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has repeatedly tried to convince the union to accept one-person train crews as a way of improving efficiency, without much success. And now Hochul, who wields major control over the MTA, could have to choose between the authority’s push for change and the influential union that could help her as she seeks reelection next year.
“ I do think that the governor and her people understand that this [bill] is a necessity for safety and that it is wanted by the overwhelming majority of New York City working people,” TWU International President John Samuelsen said.
The battle over train crews dates back to at least the 1960s.
That’s when the New York City transit system experimented with a fully automated train that shuttled between Times Square and Grand Central Station, only for the union to get a motorman on board after threatening a strike. At the time, then-TWU International President Michael Quill derided the train as a “headless horseman,” according to the union.
The issue has come up repeatedly during contract negotiations between the TWU and MTA over the years, with the union resisting any effort to move to one-person train crews. Today, most MTA trains — aside from certain shuttles and off-peak G and M trains — operate with two-person crews, according to the Effective Transit Alliance, an organization that advocates for technical advancements in the city’s transit system.
Samuelsen said it’s an issue of safety. People who oppose a two-person crew, he said, have never had to evacuate people off a train when there’s a fire or some other incident in a tunnel deep underground.
“To think that one person could evacuate several hundred people off a train on a bench wall or or across the tracks to safety is absolute insanity,” Samuelsen said. “ It's complete pandemonium in the dark over dangerous, heavy steel and other dangerous conditions, and it's hard enough to do with two people.”
But Blair Lorenzo, the Effective Transit Alliance’s executive director, said experiences in other cities prove otherwise.
”We see this across the world and we see across the country that one-person train operation is incredibly safe, and often no-person train operation is incredibly safe, if designed well,” Lorenzo said. “It’s kind of hard to argue with the fact that there are so many places doing it right now.”
Samuelsen dismissed experiences in other cities, noting New York City’s trains operate seven days a week, 24 hours a day. “ Other cities are other cities, and New York City is unique,” he said.
State Sen. Kevin Parker, a Democrat from Brooklyn who sponsored the bill, said the legislation finally got a vote because lawmakers want to ensure necessary safeguards are in place as society hurtles more and more toward automation.
“I think that as we move faster towards a technological society, people are experiencing it and they're understanding that even though technology is great, you still need human oversight,” Parker said.
The MTA hasn’t taken an official position on the bill. A spokesperson pointed to MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber’s comments about the bill in June, when he said the authority would study its potential cost.
“One of the challenges that we face is … frequently the Legislature passes bills that have huge price tags — in Washington terms, what we call unfunded mandates,” he said. “I don't know what the specific cost of this would be.”
Hochul, meanwhile, rarely tips her hand when it comes to pending bills.
“The governor will review the legislation,” spokesperson Kara Cumoletti said in a statement.
Tagged
Politics
new york city
transportation
Jon Campbell
Jon Campbell covers the New York State Capitol for WNYC and Gothamist. Prior to that, he covered the Capitol for more than a decade for the USA TODAY Network. He has twice earned the Walter T. Brown Memorial Award, an honor given annually by the Legislative Correspondents Association alumni for outstanding state government coverage. Jon grew up in the Buffalo area and graduated from the University at Albany. Got a tip? Email Jon at [email protected] or Signal at JonCampbellNY.90.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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