In NYC it isn't a question of whether the technology exists - everybody knows driverless trains have been possible for a long time.
Most importantly, most of the lines are using signaling systems installed decades before computerized signaling existed so currently operating them without people is impossible. Much of the current system is so outdated that even the human dispatchers don't know the precise position of any given train without radio contact with the onboard crew. The upgrade project that the article in the link talks about would move towards enabling this at a technical level.
Secondly, because the trains _have_ had human drivers and conductors for a century, the union representing them is extremely powerful and there are many political considerations that go into getting humanless train operation. A newer system, which was built fully-automated and never had a motorman or conductor's union in the first place, has it much easier in that regard. Its a classic legacy problem, building anew doesn't involve any of the hassles of upgrading an old system.
(None of these problems are unsolvable, and all the fixes are waaaayyy overdue... but these are the cards we're playing with here in NY. There are a ton of entrenched interests and a few decades of technical debt to pay back.)
Most importantly, most of the lines are using signaling systems installed decades before computerized signaling existed so currently operating them without people is impossible. Much of the current system is so outdated that even the human dispatchers don't know the precise position of any given train without radio contact with the onboard crew. The upgrade project that the article in the link talks about would move towards enabling this at a technical level.
Secondly, because the trains _have_ had human drivers and conductors for a century, the union representing them is extremely powerful and there are many political considerations that go into getting humanless train operation. A newer system, which was built fully-automated and never had a motorman or conductor's union in the first place, has it much easier in that regard. Its a classic legacy problem, building anew doesn't involve any of the hassles of upgrading an old system.
(None of these problems are unsolvable, and all the fixes are waaaayyy overdue... but these are the cards we're playing with here in NY. There are a ton of entrenched interests and a few decades of technical debt to pay back.)