‘Delivering Safety’: Transportation Alternatives Releases New Report, Recommendations for New Department of Sustainable Delivery
As City Hall announces plans to launch a new Department of Sustainable Delivery, Transportation Alternatives proposes a framework for the new agency.
Delivery work is the most dangerous job in New York City.
NEW YORK — Transportation Alternatives today released a new report, Delivering Safety: A Regulatory Framework to Rein in the Destructive Practices of Same-Day Delivery App Companies for Calm Streets and Just Working Conditions. Los Deliveristas Unidos, part of Worker’s Justice Project, is also releasing a set of recommendations for workers’ rights, and together, they offer specific and comprehensive guidance on the regulation of delivery app companies in the five boroughs.
“The Department of Sustainable Delivery is a first-of-its-kind venture to regulate the same-day delivery industry and help bring safety to our streets,” said Danny Harris, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. “Today, delivery apps are in a race to the bottom where everyone loses except their shareholders. It’s past time to regulate these companies, protect workers, and protect our most vulnerable street users. With a holistic regulatory system, we can solve several pressing New York problems at once and help our city get ahead of new freight and delivery modes from drones to AVs. We applaud the Adams administration for advancing this new department and look forward to working with the City Council and City Hall to make these ideas a reality.”
“Delivering safer streets in New York City starts with guaranteeing stronger worker protections,” said Ligia Guallpa, executive director of the Worker’s Justice Project. “It’s critical that we hold delivery app companies accountable for their role in creating unsafe conditions on our city’s streets and sidewalks, while also continuing to strengthen delivery workers’ rights and protections. The new Department of Sustainable Delivery presents an opportunity to advance bold solutions and enhance street safety, and we look forward to working with the Adams administration and New York City Council to meet this critical moment with the equitable and justice-centered vision it demands.”
Without regulation, delivery app companies have fueled several interrelated safety concerns: the proliferation of unsafe micromobility vehicles and uncertified batteries, deadly working conditions for delivery operators — delivery work is now the deadliest profession in New York City — and danger on city streets.
This report proposes a regulatory effort to collect data; process any complaints; investigate crashes and theft; and hold companies to account.
Same-day delivery companies should pay for the privilege of operating a business in New York City, and operate by a standard that does not harm its workers, any other New Yorker, or the city at large. The Department of Sustainable Delivery can and should give the public a central place to direct their concerns as well as give the New York City Council a mechanism for oversight. Ideally, this department can serve as a hub to track and regulate new forms of freight and delivery not yet in operation – from drones to delivery robots.
By setting minimum safety standards and charging companies a fair market rate for operating, the City of New York can update infrastructure to meet the needs of this moment: safe streets, safe intersections, safe batteries, safe e-bikes, safe charging stations, and more.
Today’s report builds on TA’s past work calling for critical infrastructure improvements in Building an E-Micromobility Future and The Case for Self-Enforcing Streets.
"Delivery apps make billions operating on streets that were never designed to serve such a high volume of e-micromobility," said Sara Lind, Co-Executive Director at Open Plans. "This proposal finally gets at the root of the chaos they’ve created by regulating the industry from the top. Apps should help fund the bike lanes, bike parking, and public charging that their workers need to do their jobs; and creating adequate infrastructure keeps everyone safe and comfortable, not just deliverers. The answer is not targeting bikes or bikers - it’s holding the major players accountable for their use of our streets for their profits."
“We strongly support the recommendations outlined in Transportation Alternatives’s report on the proposed Department of Sustainable Delivery. The delivery ecosystem is essential to the city’s economy, and putting in place common-sense reforms and regulations to hold delivery-app platforms accountable will greatly improve safety for delivery workers and everyone else who uses New York City’s streets. Getting the scope, structure, and mission of the Department of Sustainable Delivery right will be critical, and we look forward to supporting that work however we can,” said Eric McClure, Executive Director of StreetsPAC.
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