tandempower

Well, the point of an economy is to serve needs and to regulate production and labor. So there are uncountable ways to accomplish these economic goals, and there are a lot of political-social issues that impede potential solutions. Regardless of how people's labor/productivity and consumption are ultimately regulated, it's possible to look at the bigger picture of what is better in terms of something like bus transit.

Imo, if no one was afraid for their job and you asked them if they'd rather get paid the same amount to drive a bus all night over a long distance or do so locally during a day shift, very few would choose the long distance night shift. Such shifts/jobs probably pay better for that reason, and that is the reason that drivers would hate to see them lost to automation. It's ironic, really, because the reason the job pays better is because it's less desirable, but then because people are afraid to lose money, they end up wanting to save the job for humans even though the whole reason it pays more is because it is less desirable.