Industry group, 4851
Urban Transit Systems
47,340 people work in this industry in the US, at mean pay of $59,940 a year (BLS, May 2025). What follows is how much of their working time the best AI models could finish, when, and in which jobs and tasks. Estimates.
of the paid hours. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
a year: 15 million hours at what they cost. Not a forecast of savings.
- 18%
- 14%
- 68%
of the paid hours are within reach now in tasks people already bring to Claude. Another 14% is within reach in tasks not yet seen there.
Across the US: 30% within reach now and 36% by the end of 2028, on the long-run pace at four in five. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
Share of the paid hours within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
What handing the work over would take
For the 44,973 people in jobs so far, 95% of the industry's people; the others are in the totals above and join this split as the review reaches their jobs. Shares of their working time within reach now, at the pace and reliability chosen above. Estimates. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
about 6.7 million hours a year. The material can be handed to a model and the result handed back.
about 8.5 million hours a year. The model has to be connected to the system the work lives in.
about 5.5 million hours a year. Short enough by length. This site leaves conversation with people, so it is not in the totals.
What their work is made of
- 9%
- 9%
- 6%
- 8%
- 68%
Each task's time split among five kinds of doing, judged one task at a time; only documents and systems can count as within reach.
What changes for the people
For the 44,973 people in jobs reviewed task by task so far, by the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five: the shares of their working time, from each job page's own map, weighted by how many people here do that job. It says which parts of the work change, never whether anyone keeps a job. Estimates.
Conversation, in-person and hands-on work.
Desk work within reach in tasks where a mistake costs something or a licensed person signs.
Desk work within reach that is small if wrong, with lighter checks.
What most people here would learn first
How many of them have each skill among the first two things to learn on their job's page. Every state, and the US
- The hands-on craft36,630 (81%)
- Judgment where errors are severe35,415 (79%)
- Reviewing work you did not do yourself7,623 (17%)
- Briefing a model and checking its drafts4,172 (9%)
- Running AI inside the business systems2,990 (7%)
- The conversations2,197 (5%)
- Dealing with people outside the organization340 (1%)
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this industry's paid hours were within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 1%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 12%. Today's estimate: 16%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 73% of the working time of the people in this industry as physical work. For 58% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 8% in a purpose-built cell, 47% in a structured facility, 3% in any setting. 1.12 of 3.
- Not physical 27%
- No robot shown 14%
- In a purpose-built cell 8%
- In a structured facility 47%
- In any setting 3%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. Weighted by the people in each occupation; each job's page names the robot behind each rated task.
Where the hours are
Jobs by hours within reach now. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index. The 30 largest jobs hold 95% of the people.
| People | Pay here | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity | 27,240 | 7% | 4.1 million | $58K |
| Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance | 1,150 | 73% | 1.7 million | $51K |
| Customer Service Representatives | 910 | 64% | 1.2 million | $45K |
| General and Operations Managers | 650 | 45% | 608,404 | $94K |
| Shuttle Drivers and Chauffeurs | 2,050 | 13% | 567,112 | $49K |
| First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers | 550 | 47% | 538,829 | $82K |
| First-Line Supervisors of Material-Moving Machine and Vehicle Operators | 550 | 45% | 510,224 | $63K |
| First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers | 390 | 54% | 441,295 | $70K |
| Office Clerks, General | 340 | 56% | 399,568 | $48K |
| First-Line Supervisors of Helpers, Laborers, and Material Movers, Hand | 550 | 33% | 382,096 | $63K |
| First-Line Supervisors of Passenger Attendants | 550 | 32% | 369,513 | $63K |
| Training and Development Specialists | 390 | 43% | 351,256 | $64K |
People: BLS counts for this industry, May 2025. Pay here: the median paid for the job in this industry, else its mean, else the national median. 54 smaller jobs (2,190 people) count in every total but are not listed. Task data covers 97% of the industry's people; the rest are in BLS "all other" groups with no task list, or in counts BLS does not publish.
The tasks with the most hours within reach by the end of 2028
Across the whole industry, on the chosen pace and reliability.
- Record information, such as cash receipts and ticket fares, and maintain log book.Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity2.9 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Prepare daily work and run schedules.Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance704,779 hours100% of the task within reach
- Report delays or accidents.Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity652,034 hours30% of the task within reach
- Read maps to plan bus routes.Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity544,495 hours50% of the task within reach
- Monitor personnel or equipment locations and utilization to coordinate service and schedules.Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance320,097 hours100% of the task within reach
- Obtain and examine all relevant information to assess validity of complaints and to determine possible causes, such as extreme weather conditions that could increase utility bills.Customer Service Representatives205,956 hours100% of the task within reach
- Oversee all communications within specifically assigned territories.Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance191,054 hours40% of the task within reach
- Complete contract forms, prepare change of address records, or issue service discontinuance orders, using computers.Customer Service Representatives189,961 hours100% of the task within reach
- Develop or implement electronic maintenance programs or computer information management systems.First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers183,737 hours100% of the task within reach
- Record and maintain files or records of customer requests, work or services performed, charges, expenses, inventory, or other dispatch information.Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance156,604 hours100% of the task within reach
Scan a typical company in this industry
The industry's largest jobs, in the proportions BLS counts across the whole industry, at the pay it pays, run through the company scan. A starting point before you have a roster, or a benchmark for the one you have. Or choose the whole industry: every occupation BLS publishes for it with task data, at its nationwide headcount, the sector report ($249 for the full report, or included in Pro).
Next to this industry
Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- School and Employee Bus Transportation216,510 people13% now, 13% by 2028
- Taxi and Limousine Service117,670 people31% now, 36% by 2028
- Other Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation111,560 people22% now, 23% by 2028
- Charter Bus Industry24,070 people16% now, 17% by 2028
- Interurban and Rural Bus Transportation15,360 people17% now, 18% by 2028
How it is built: BLS counts the people in each job in this industry; each job's tasks and their lengths give its share within reach at a date; the industry's share is those shares weighted by people. Value is pay times 1.43 for benefits and payroll costs. Seen in Claude use splits today's share by whether Anthropic saw people bring each task to Claude in 2025; other AI tools are not counted. How it works
Questions about this industry
- How much of the work in Urban Transit Systems is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 16% of the paid hours in Urban Transit Systems are within reach of AI models now and 18% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (17% to 18% across the three paces the site shows). Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which jobs in Urban Transit Systems carry the most hours within reach?
- By hours within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index): Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity (27,240 people, 7% of their time, about 4.1 million hours a year); Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance (1,150 people, 73% of their time, about 1.7 million hours a year); and Customer Service Representatives (910 people, 64% of their time, about 1.2 million hours a year).
- Which tasks in Urban Transit Systems carry the most hours within reach by the end of 2028?
- Record information, such as cash receipts and ticket fares, and maintain log book (Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity, about 2.9 million hours a year); Prepare daily work and run schedules (Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance, about 704,779 hours a year); and Report delays or accidents (Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity, about 652,034 hours a year).
- What would people working in Urban Transit Systems learn first?
- Among the 44,973 people in jobs reviewed task by task, the skills most often among the first two things to learn on their job's page are the hands-on craft (36,630 people); judgment where errors are severe (35,415 people); and reviewing work you did not do yourself (7,623 people). By the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five, about 82% of their working time stays with people, 15% becomes checking a model's work and 3% can be handed over with lighter checks. It says which parts of the work change, never whether anyone keeps a job.
- How is this estimated?
- BLS counts the people in each occupation in Urban Transit Systems (May 2025); each occupation's share of working time within reach comes from its O*NET tasks, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. The industry's share is those shares weighted by people. Task data covers 97% of its people, and 95% are in occupations reviewed task by task. Data checked November 10, 2026.
Embed these figures on your site
A small card with the share of working time within reach now and at the end of 2027, 2028 and 2030, the date and a link back. Free under CC BY 4.0; the card carries the credit.