Train conductors should be automated, we have better things to spend government money on than make work jobs. LIRR pays conductors 200k. It’s theft at that point

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bluGill 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Train conductors are valuable IF they have first aid and CPR training; maybe riot training. There are probably a few other things along those lines as well - but none of them have anything to do with running a train: all the train related tasks can be better done automated.

There are still some things in an airplane that an autopilot cannot do. There is nothing on a train in normal operation (as opposed to maintenance) that a computer cannot do - as evidenced by multiple trains around the world running without humans operators since the 1990s!

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MSFT_Edging 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The long island economy is split between well paid public servants, NYC commuters, and the circular economy of driveway contractors and tile contractors in an arms race for the nicest walking surface.

There are no other jobs on the island that pay decently. Cutting edge engineering work will make you half of what it will in either the DC or Boston areas.

The conductors are highly paid in part because it's the local custom, and part because a third of the economy would collapse if that train stops running.

	▲	daedrdev 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Automating trains would let LIRR run trains more often because they aren’t having to pay 2-3x median income for someone who does little on each train It would be better for society to pay these people to do nothing while we run more trains automatically. All US passenger rail runs off of massive state subsidies. The absurd pay is the taxpayers money.

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bshaughn 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

There are much worse things the government spends money on (or doesn't tax) than well paying jobs that play an important role in society. What do you think happens to that $200k? Do you think it just gets sent to the void? That money is spent on things like food, local businesses, rec sports and trips for family... and all that money gets spent again by those local businesses.

Meanwhile Boeing did enough stock buybacks from 2014 to 2019 to give every single boeing employee $200k... and when the 737 max crashes happened, the stock crashed back to pre buyback levels. THAT is truly sending money to the void to be lit on fire, money that could of been used to change the lives of thousands of employees and factory workers.

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kg 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

If screwing up gets me killed I want the person doing that job to be paid well and I want them to be held up to a high performance standard. I don't see how cutting pay for conductors is going to make anyone's lives better.

Or if we replace that well-compensated train conductor with automation I sure hope it's high quality stuff and not lowest-bidder slop.

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sssilver 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> I don't see how cutting pay for conductors is going to make anyone's lives better

It's going to make passengers' lives better by making their train rides more affordable, allowing them to improve their lives by leveraging those funds.

Or, it's going to make shareholders' lives better by increasing their profits.

Either way, some people will benefit from it. The question is -- what is the real, practical tradeoff, and is the tradeoff worth it to the participants in the system.

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fragmede 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Money, as a limited resource, means that money not spent on the conductor's wages can be spent elsewhere. In this hypothetical, fully automated trains can be run more frequently, so the money not spent on conductor wages means that the train comes every 5 minutes instead of every 15, and more stations.

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ux266478 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

It's going to make shareholder's lives better. And you better believe we're replacing conductors with lowest-bidder slop, that's the whole point. That's shareholder capitalism's playbook, it hasn't changed for the last 50 years.

What, you don't want to save a few bucks on a train ticket? Come on, you'll love it!

	▲	daedrdev 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Automated trains have been around for nearly 40 years. I want automate trains because they would make running trains more often possible