The little food-delivery robots that have been rolling around downtown San Jose finally have rules to follow.
The City Council on Tuesday approved San Jose's first regulations for what the city calls personal delivery devices. The ordinance sets a 5 mph speed limit on sidewalks, requires operators to get one-year permits and gives transportation officials power to cite, remove or impound robots that break the rules, The Mercury News reported.
What operators will pay
Companies must put down a $10,000 maintenance and repair deposit. Annual fees are $200 per robot for sidewalk devices and $250 per robot for models that travel in the road, according to the city's agenda item. Fines run from $100 to $500 for violations such as blocking curb ramps or crosswalks, parking improperly, speeding or running unpermitted robots. Operators get 30 minutes to retrieve a stalled device after city staff verify and photograph the problem.
Coco Robotics and Serve Robotics already operate in the city, mostly in and around downtown, because no state or local law stopped them. DoorDash plans to launch its larger Dot robot, which weighs about 350 pounds and is built mainly for bike lanes and roads, under a one-year pilot. SJSU's student news outlet reported that the Dot will have to match the speed of the slowest cyclist and flash emergency lights if it stalls.
Supporters and skeptics
Mayor Matt Mahan said the city should get ahead of new technology while weighing its benefits against its costs. City staff said the bots can cut car trips and emissions and help residents with disabilities get groceries and meals. Serve's public policy lead, Vignesh Ram, told the council the company has completed hundreds of deliveries in San Jose since July.
Not everyone was sold. Vice Mayor Pam Foley worried about sidewalk congestion and called a $100 first-offense fine too light for someone in a wheelchair who finds a curb blocked. Councilmember Michael Mulcahy compared the risk to the clutter left by rental scooters. City attorneys said the ordinance requires operators to cover legal defense costs and indemnify the city against damage claims.
Accounts of the vote differ slightly: The Mercury News said Councilmembers Domingo Candelas and Peter Ortiz stepped out before the roll call, while SJSU's Spartan Media Group recorded them as the two dissenting votes.
The city can also cap fleet sizes and spread robots across neighborhoods if sidewalks get crowded. Staff will study fleet data for about nine months and return to the council next fall to decide whether to make the rules permanent, tighten them, extend the pilot or end it.