Excellent points and London Reconnections is great!
I suppose the crux of my ramble was in the fact I had to invent the term "active" driver (there may be a more appropriate way to describe how low level in the feedback loop of vehicle control a human operator is, but I don't know it).
How we draw a line between who is a "driver" and why does the DLR (which is arguably pretty close to an ATO tube in terms of automation level) have PSAs whilst the tubes have drivers? If it isn't cost related is it a public perception thing (ooh this fancy train must be automatic it doesn't have a driver). Although as a passenger, being able to sit in the front seat of a DLR is very fun!
If the safety monitor human (PSA/safety driver/whatever) has to be trained and licensed to operate the vehicle in manual mode, why is that any different to a driver of a traditional mainline train? Should a traditional train driver get a higher wage because they spend more time in a lower level feedback loop?
FWIW, TfL doesn't call them drivers anyway, the title is "train operator". I believe this is because their duties combine those that would traditionally belong to both a driver and a guard. Although the regime of working without guards is called "driver only operation", so what's going on there.
The crew on the DLR were originally called "train captains", which i think is an excellent name, and should be brought back.
I suppose the crux of my ramble was in the fact I had to invent the term "active" driver (there may be a more appropriate way to describe how low level in the feedback loop of vehicle control a human operator is, but I don't know it).
How we draw a line between who is a "driver" and why does the DLR (which is arguably pretty close to an ATO tube in terms of automation level) have PSAs whilst the tubes have drivers? If it isn't cost related is it a public perception thing (ooh this fancy train must be automatic it doesn't have a driver). Although as a passenger, being able to sit in the front seat of a DLR is very fun!
If the safety monitor human (PSA/safety driver/whatever) has to be trained and licensed to operate the vehicle in manual mode, why is that any different to a driver of a traditional mainline train? Should a traditional train driver get a higher wage because they spend more time in a lower level feedback loop?