Boston Mayor Michelle Wu proposed an ordinance that will crack down on criminality from meals supply drivers who ignore site visitors guidelines and create “dangerous conditions” by zipping round metropolis streets on scooters and mopeds.
The ordinance was filed with the Metropolis Council and introduced Monday by Wu. It follows a letter despatched final June by the town’s police commissioner and chief of streets to executives from DoorDash, GrubHub and Uber Applied sciences, with a warning that continued lawlessness from their drivers could be met with stiffer penalties.
“What we’ve been hearing from residents all over the city is that delivery drivers on mopeds and scooters have been creating dangerous conditions on our roads,” Wu mentioned at a press convention within the Again Bay. “In the past year, we’ve received more than 100 311-reports from residents about mopeds running red lights, riding on sidewalks, weaving in and out of traffic, going the wrong way down one-way roads, speeding down residential streets and causing collisions.
“These practices aren’t just against the law. They put our residents’ lives at risk.”
Wu mentioned the ordinance is geared toward making certain that each one nationwide third-party supply platform firms preserve a legitimate allow from the town and that these firms “take proactive steps” to “crack down on dangerous operations by delivery workers using motorcycles, mopeds and motorized scooters.”
Extra particularly, it requires these supply firms to acquire umbrella legal responsibility insurance coverage protection for all staff using their platform with the intention to obtain a allow to function in Boston. The coverage should cowl all staff, no matter what car they use to make deliveries, Wu wrote in a letter to the Metropolis Council.
The ordinance additionally requires supply platforms to offer the town with knowledge on meals supply journeys in Boston. That knowledge would come with the sorts of autos used to finish deliveries within the Hub, which areas expertise the best variety of orders, and the place and the way rapidly journeys are accomplished, Wu wrote.
It would additional look to safe knowledge from firms that paperwork “unsafe and illegal operations by delivery drivers” on Boston roads, which the mayor says will guarantee safer streets and “help the city hold these companies accountable.”
“Food delivery apps bring business and convenience benefits to Boston,” Chief of Streets Jascha Franklin-Hodge mentioned. “However, these benefits do not have to come at the expense of public safety and well-functioning roads. They do not have to come at the expense of people feeling safe walking in their neighborhoods.
“The price of convenience cannot be fear, injury and chaos on our streets,” he added. “The commonsense regulations that we are proposing can preserve the benefits of food delivery while helping keep our streets safe and moving.”
A DoorDash spokesman pushed again in a press release, saying the proposed ordinance would “miss the mark in its efforts to create safer streets,” and added that the corporate has already made efforts to enhance operations.
“We’re committed to playing our part in helping cities like Boston thrive, while promoting safety in their busiest neighborhoods,” DoorDash spokesman Andy Hoglund mentioned. “That’s why we’ve worked at the encouragement of the city to get car Dashers off the road in efforts to reduce congestion, and supported its oversight and enforcement on dangerous riding to help keep everyone who shares Boston’s streets safe.”
“However, this ordinance would clearly miss the mark in its efforts to create safer streets, doing little to improve safety for Dashers or the public and creating new costs that would add price hikes for Boston families along the way,” he added. “We plan to continue working closely with Boston policymakers to help them understand the consequences of this ordinance and find more practical solutions that would actually help ensure more vibrant and safer streets for everyone.”
The mayor’s ordinance might be launched at Wednesday’s Metropolis Council assembly and certain referred to a subcommittee for a listening to.
Councilor Sharon Durkan, who represents the Again Bay and attended the day’s press convention, mentioned the measure has her assist.
“For far too long, third-party delivery platforms have operated as if rules don’t apply to them,” Durkan mentioned. “Their business models have prioritized speed and profit over safety and accountability, leaving residents, pedestrians and even their own drivers to deal with the consequences of reckless and lawless behavior on our streets, but today, our mayor has offered a solution.”
