Delivery robots rolling along San Jose sidewalks now have a rulebook. At its Oct. 6 meeting, the City Council approved regulations that set a 5 mph sidewalk speed limit, require operators to get permits and give city transportation officials the power to cite, remove and impound devices that break the rules, the Mercury News reported.
Permits and fees
According to the city's agenda item, the council was asked to add a new chapter to the municipal code covering personal delivery devices, set an annual permit fee of $200 per sidewalk robot and a pilot permit fee of $250 per robot that travels on roadways, and add new fines to the city's administrative citation schedule. The Mercury News reported that companies must obtain one-year permits and put up a $10,000 deposit to cover maintenance and repairs.
What gets a robot cited
Violations include running unpermitted robots, going faster than 5 mph on the sidewalk, parking improperly, blocking pathways, curbs or crosswalks, and leaving a stalled device in place for more than 30 minutes, with fines ranging from $100 to $500, according to the Mercury News. City staff must check and photograph a problem in person before issuing a citation, which starts the 30-minute window for the operator to retrieve the robot.
Spartan Media Group, San Jose State's student news outlet, reported that road-going DoorDash devices face extra conditions under the pilot permit, including a 5 mph limit at protected intersections, matching the speed of the slowest cyclist, and emergency lights that flash if the device stops working.
Room to cap fleets
Transportation officials said the rules let the city cap fleet sizes, limit how many companies operate and require robots to be spread across neighborhoods if sidewalks get crowded. The department recently hired a program manager to oversee delivery robots along with e-scooters, bikes and future technology such as delivery drones, the Mercury News reported.
Officials plan to study fleet data over the next nine months and return to the council next fall, when members will decide whether to make the rules permanent, add restrictions, extend the pilot or end it.