The answer to all this is to use Towbarless Tractors (TBL). Then you can tow with no one on board. We use it all the time here and it has made a great improvement to our workload. We prepare the aircraft, NLG pin in, steering pin in, and brakes off, and the towing crew come and move it, just one man and a TBL. All the time I have spent trapped in the cockpit waiting for tugs and steps in the past. The only drawback with TBL is that they are very light, and easy to skid on ice. The drivers must be taught to drive carefully when its icy on the ramp.
Having said that towbars are OK if you are in the flightdeck and ready for action. The worst aircraft I can remember was the F100 which was very light on the nose when empty and if you went over a bump the nose leg extended, self centred, and the shear pins went, and the driver was off by himself!.