Boston cracks down on delivery app drivers with new regulations

Tréa Lavery, masslive.comMassLive.com

New rules in Boston aim to lessen traffic congestion and unsafe driving by cracking down on delivery drivers who work for companies like Amazon, DoorDash, GrubHub and Uber Eats.

The new rules, which were approved by the City Council with a 10-2 vote Wednesday, will require affected companies to have liability insurance for all drivers—including both those in cars and others on bikes, e-bikes and scooters.

The companies will also need to apply for a permit to operate within the city and provide data on delivery trips to the Boston Transportation Department.

“Almost every day, someone tells me about someone going through a red light, a stop sign, or the wrong way on a one-way street, on the sidewalk‚" Councilor Ed Flynn said. “Boston can no longer be the Wild West ... Whether it’s cars, mopeds, dirt bikes, electric bikes or bikes, everyone has to be obeying the same rules of the road.”

Mayor Michelle Wu introduced the ordinance in February, saying that there had been over 100 complaints submitted to 311 in the preceding year related to mopeds alone.

“These practices aren’t just against the law. They put our residents’ lives at risk,” Wu said at the time. “It’s not safe for anyone — the delivery drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, other vehicles on the road and anyone else trying to get around our city.”

The new requirements will apply to businesses that fulfill at least 1 million orders each year, which Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata explained would include the major, national and international companies while exempting locally-owned and small businesses that employ their own drivers.

Grocery and convenience store delivery companies, such as Instacart, are also exempt.

Coletta Zapata, who chairs the Committee on Government Operations which drafted the final ordinance, said it would require companies to insure drivers for coverage amounts of at least $50,000 for one person injured in an accident, $100,000 for all people injured and $30,000 for property damage.

The insurance must be in effect when the driver is actively working, from the time they accept an order to the time it is delivered or canceled.

She acknowledged that this type of insurance does not currently exist for bicycle, e-bike and scooter operators, but said an industry representative had committed to the city to work with insurance companies on developing new insurance policies. She added that Uber currently has similar coverage in Canada.

Providers that operate without a permit will be fined $300 per day per restaurant or order.

The ordinance will take effect in nine months to give companies time to insure their drivers.

While the council had discussed including a $0.15-per-order fee in the new rules to go toward enforcement, the fee was not included in the final ordinance because of concerns that it would be passed on from the companies to consumers.

Councilor Sharon Durkan expressed disappointment in this decision, saying it was a “win” for the delivery companies.

“They have a combined market share of $235 billion, but 15 cents per order, that’s too much,” she said.

Though most of the council supported the ordinance, Councilors John Fitzgerald and Erin Murphy voted against it. Fitzgerald did not speak about the issue during Wednesday’s meeting, but Murphy said she had some worries about the final ordinance.

“Boston already has comprehensive traffic laws designed to address safety concerns associated with food delivery drivers,” Murphy said. “Effective enforcement of these existing regulations should be our primary strategy, rather than introducing additional legislation that may be redundant and burdensome.”

She specifically noted the exemption of grocery deliveries, saying it was a “selective application” of the rules and potentially unfair.

Coletta Zapata, however, explained that the decision was made because grocery deliveries did not have the same effects on traffic as restaurant takeout orders, where drivers typically pull up to park on the street.

“Grocery delivery services like Instacart operate differently. They pick up their orders in grocery store parking lots,” she said. “They do not create the same sort of street conduct congestion as restaurant delivery drivers.”