Salaries are not significant for bus drivers, but would be significant for taxi cab drivers. Automated small planes could really revolutionize the sector, especially if we could figure out how to make them fuel efficient and even electric.
Salaries are in fact a dominant expense of bus and rail fleets. In my area, WMATA pays out 78% of operating budget for buses towards personnel, and 72% of operating budget for trains towards personnel. Operating budget does not include capital expenses like rolling stock or infrastructure.
