Mayor Wu Announces New Road Safety Ordinance to Increase Accountability of Third Party Delivery Providers

Today, Mayor Michelle Wu announced she has filed an ordinance with the Boston City Council today to require food delivery apps such as DoorDash, UberEats, and GrubHub to obtain a permit to operate within the City of Boston. The permit would require the companies to have liability insurance coverage for all drivers using their platform, including those using motorcycles, mopeds, and electric scooters, and to share aggregate data on delivery trips. The City first sent a letter to DoorDash, UberEats, and GrubHub in June of 2024, calling for more accountability in response to growing resident complaints around public safety on Boston’s streets. This new ordinance will further address street safety concerns in an emerging industry that currently lacks regulation. 

To obtain a permit, delivery companies must submit to the City proof of adequate insurance coverage for operators and share data pertaining deliveries, including data on unsafe and illegal vehicle operations on city streets. This carefully tailored ordinance is focused on the largest third-party delivery providers, which concentrate large volumes of traffic in certain areas of the City, particularly at certain times of day. The ordinance does not apply to small businesses with a small number of delivery drivers or other types of deliveries, such as those made by FedEx, UPS, or Amazon. By establishing this new permit process, this ordinance will establish rules and regulations governing the oversight of third-party delivery services within the City of Boston in furtherance of the public interest, safety, and convenience.

“This ordinance is an important step toward making app deliveries safer for our city’s pedestrians and drivers on our streets, and toward ensuring delivery app drivers have insurance coverage from the large, national companies they work for,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “As this new technology continues to develop, we want to make sure Boston is leading the way in safe and efficient regulation.”

Under this ordinance, coverage would be required for liability, personal injury, collision, and medical payment if any uninsured or underinsured driver is involved in a crash and would need to cover drivers using all modes of transportation. Currently, delivery companies are not required to hold insurance to protect uninsured or underinsured drivers. 

“We hope to create an incentive for these companies to encourage safer driving instead of the current incentive–speed at all costs,” said Jascha Franklin-Hodge, Chief of Streets. “The data we collect will allow us to plan for the impacts of food delivery, rather than just reacting to double parking, unsafe operation, or congestion made worse by a high volume of deliveries. These common-sense requirements, along with data-informed curb regulations and targeted enforcement, will contribute to a safer environment for residents and drivers.” 

This ordinance follows a concerning uptick in complaints regarding the impact of third-party food delivery on City streets. Residents made 105 reports through 311 about increased traffic and congestion, illegal double parking, as well as reckless and unsafe delivery drivers on scooters, mopeds, motorbikes, and e-bikes in 2024. The City of Boston, and in particular the Boston Police Department, remain focused on enforcing the traffic violations across Boston. This new ordinance will complement existing enforcement efforts by providing new data. In 2024, at least 475 mopeds were towed, impounded, or seized. 

In June of 2024, Chief of Streets Jascha Franklin-Hodge and Police Commissioner Michael Cox sent a joint letter to the leadership of DoorDash, GrubHub, and UberEats. The letter detailed a major increase in dangerous and unlawful behavior by delivery drivers in Boston and alerted the companies of increased enforcement actions by BPD in the interest of serious public safety concerns. The enforcement is occurring in neighborhoods across the City, including Copley Square, Washington Street in Downtown, and in the Fenway. Since then the City has issued traffic violations and impounded hundreds of mopeds. BPD will continue to enforce state and local laws, and encourages the companies operating these delivery services to partner with the City to discourage reckless driving and ensure public safety. 

"As a City, we are safer and stronger when we work together, and that includes our partners in the business community. Each of us has a role in ensuring public safety and we are asking these corporations to do their part in helping us keep pedestrians and drivers in our City safe," said Commissioner Michael Cox, Boston Police Department.

Additionally the data submitted by delivery companies required by this new ordinance will help inform the City about the types of vehicles used to complete deliveries in Boston, which restaurants experience the highest number of orders, and where and how quickly trips are completed, including routes that drivers make using illegal turns. This information will give the Boston Transportation Department (BTD) a more accurate understanding of how third-party delivery is affecting Boston’s streets. Currently, third-party delivery apps do not have to share information with the city detailing common delivery routes or how fast delivery drivers are operating. Access to this information would allow the City to better design roadway configurations, tailor enforcement, and better manage the safe operations of our streets.

"For too long, third-party delivery platforms have ignored the rules, prioritizing profit over safety and putting residents, pedestrians, and their own drivers at risk. When I called on them to use their own data to curb their impact, they refused. This ordinance ends their indifference by requiring transparency, permitting, and insurance. Boston has no obligation to cater to tech giants who won’t play by the rules—especially when their reckless behavior endangers our streets,” said Councilor Sharon Durkan, Chair of Planning, Development, and Transportation on the Boston City Council.

“I appreciate the Mayor's leadership on this issue. We need to work together to make the city's streets safer for everyone,” said State Sen. William Brownsberger.

"I'm pleased that Mayor Wu is taking this important step to help make our streets and sidewalks safer and I look forward to continuing to work with her and her administration to realize this important goal,” said State Rep. Jay Livingstone. 

“On behalf of residents and businesses in the Back Bay, I am grateful to see Mayor Wu and the Boston Police Department take on unsafe and illegal mopeds and work to hold delivery companies accountable for safety in our neighborhood,” said Meg Mainzer-Cohen, President of the Back Bay Association.

In addition to communications with the delivery companies, the City continues to reach out to delivery workers directly to educate them about traffic safety. BPD and the Office of Neighborhood Services have distributed flyers in eleven languages to delivery workers across the City.