San Jose Writes Its First Rules for Delivery Robots, With Fines and a Bike-Lane Pilot

The small delivery robots that started showing up on downtown San Jose sidewalks in April now have rules to follow. The City Council on Tuesday, Oct. 6, approved a regulatory package for what the city calls personal delivery devices, adding a new chapter to the municipal code along with permit fees and a schedule of fines.

What the rules require

Operators will need one-year permits and must post a $10,000 deposit for maintenance and repairs, according to reporting on the vote. The city's fee schedule sets an annual permit and monitoring fee of $200 per sidewalk robot and $250 per robot in a separate pilot for devices that travel in the roadway, according to the council agenda item.

Sidewalk robots are limited to 5 mph. Companies can be cited, and robots impounded, for running unpermitted devices, speeding, parking badly, blocking curbs, crosswalks or other public paths, or leaving a stalled robot in place for more than 30 minutes. Fines start at $100 for a first offense, rise to $200 for a second and reach $500 for a third, and permits can be revoked.

Who is operating

Two companies, Coco Robotics and Serve Robotics, already run about 35 robots between them in San Jose, city officials said. They were able to launch before any rules existed because no state or local law barred them. DoorDash has held off and plans to bring its larger Dot robot, built mainly for bike lanes and streets, through the one-year roadway pilot. Officials expect the program could eventually include about 70 smaller robots and 30 larger ones.

The rules set no cap on the number of robots and no limit on where in the city they can go, though service has so far stayed downtown. The city's Department of Transportation can change the rules or end the program if problems come up.

Concerns on the dais

The vote was unanimous, with Councilmembers Peter Ortiz and Domingo Candelas absent. Vice Mayor Pam Foley said she worried about sidewalk congestion and questioned whether a $100 first fine is enough to protect people who use wheelchairs or canes when a robot blocks a curb ramp. Residents have also raised worries about bike paths and delivery jobs.

Transportation staff will review fleet data over about nine months and return to the council next fall, when members can make the rules permanent, tighten them, extend the pilot or end it. Fremont, San Ramon and Dublin have already authorized roadway delivery robots, according to a city staff report.