Demanding Labor: Workplace Conditions in On-Demand Transit

Workplaces of all kinds continue to be transformed by computing. One example of these transformations is in public transportation, where transit agencies are experimenting with on-demand transit to address long-standing challenges in delivering first- and last-mile service. On-demand transit shares some features with ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft: riders request service when and where they are. Although rideshare systems have provided a set of interaction idioms and familiar interfaces upon which to model on-demand systems, work settings and labor conditions are very different. These differences matter and the way “disruptive” systems impact the work environment of public transit operators remains under examined. We report on interviews with transit operators from a 6-month pilot program. Our findings illustrate how the shift in in-vehicle technologies and service expectations affected work processes, well-being, and safety and we offer insight into the consequences of digital labor in the context of on-demand transit.