Career Explorer Transport and logistics
Human edge, growing
Subway and streetcar operators
Operate subway or elevated suburban trains with no separate locomotive, or electric-powered streetcar, to transport passengers. May handle fares.
More resilient than most: more resilient than 70% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it moderate), and US jobs are projected to change by +3.7% by 2035, faster than average. The work leans on ethical judgement and physical dexterity.
AI struggles with much of this work, and US employers are expected to hire more people into it than average.
- Median pay (2025)
- $86,380
- Job growth to 2035
- +3.7%
- Openings a year
- 900
- People doing it (2025)
- 10,500
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then moderate on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Provide information to guests, clients, or customers
- Maintain current knowledge in area of expertise
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Operate transportation equipment or vehicles
- Monitor operations to ensure adequate performance
- Monitor traffic conditions
What the work looks like
- Monitor lights indicating obstructions or other trains ahead and watch for car and truck traffic at crossings to stay alert to potential hazards.
- Operate controls to open and close transit vehicle doors.
- Drive and control rail-guided public transportation, such as subways, elevated trains, and electric-powered streetcars, trams, or trolleys, to transport passengers.
- Report delays, mechanical problems, and emergencies to supervisors or dispatchers, using radios.
- Regulate vehicle speed and the time spent at each stop to maintain schedules.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Industrial truck and tractor operatorsHuman edge, steady, Index 82, +1.5%
- Transportation workers, all otherHuman edge, growing, Index 83, +4.0%
- Rail transportation workers, all otherHuman edge, growing, Index 80, +4.4%
- Motor vehicle operators, all otherHuman edge, steady, Index 75, +2.8%
Also known as: Light Rail Operator, Rail Operator, Rapid Transit Operator (RTO), Train Operator, Combined Rail Operator, Light Rail Train Operator, Light Rail Vehicle Operator (LRV Operator), Streetcar Operator.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.