'We had to get out of the way': The backlash over delivery robots

The first time Chicago resident Josh Robertson saw a delivery robot trundling down the sidewalk on his street he was impressed.

"I actually thought they were kind of neat – it felt futuristic," he says.

But his attitude started to change when, soon after, he was out for a walk with his family. As another robot approached, they found themselves having to dodge it.

"To us it felt a little off - the fact that we were on the one strip reserved for walking, and we were having to get out of the way," says Robertson. "I started thinking about what it would be like for us to go for a walk as a family if there were dozens of robots with lights and cameras zipping around."

The robots, more formally known as autonomous urban delivery vehicles, have started to appear on pavements in a number of cities across the US, plus in the UK, Japan, South Korea and Germany, transporting groceries and fast food, using cameras, sensors and GPS to navigate.

According to the companies operating them, they can reliably identify and avoid objects in the path, cross streets safely and react to their environment. The robots provide a useful service and help cut down on traffic and emissions, they claim.

However, some local authorities in the US and Canada, and members of the public, are less than enthusiastic. Bans have been put in place, and protests have been launched.

San Francisco has limited the access of the vehicles to less busy parts of the city, and Toronto has since 2021 prohibited the robots from using sidewalks.

Meanwhile, in Chicago the machines have now been banned from two small areas of the city.

Robertson wants the robots to be suspended across all of Chicago until safety tests are carried out, and clear rules are set on their usage. He has launched a petition calling for this, and so far, it has around 4,400 signatures.

People frequently find themselves having to step into the street in order to get out of the machines' way, says Robertson.

"There have been reports of collisions and injuries. I saw one a few days ago where somebody had been struck by one of the robots' safety flags, which is a little ironic," he says. "We've got reports of robots causing issues with traffic, blocking emergency vehicles because they're acting erratically at crosswalks."

Uber Eats delivery robots vandalised in Sheffield

Self-driving delivery robots rolled out

Similar concerns have emerged in Glendale, California, where the local council is considering a temporary ban on the use of the vehicles. Councillors say the robots appeared without warning, and at first they didn't even know which company was supplying them.

"What triggered the concern and the discussion was a number of factors," says Coun Ardy Kassakhian. "The increased visibility of the robots in the downtown, and the question about accessibility and pedestrian movement on our public sidewalks.

"Plus, uncertainty regarding the regulatory authority - because no-one asked us for permission to use the sidewalks for this business enterprise - and then the broader concern was about the impact on workers and public places."

Sidewalks in Glendale aren't particularly wide, adds Kassakhian, and he personally has witnessed a "stand-off" between a delivery robot and an elderly person, as well as broken-down robots causing obstructions.

Kassakhian says the council is seeking a regulated approach for the longer term. "We need a regulatory framework, we need to designate operating rules, insurance requirements, accessibility standards, possibly permitting fees, operational limits in high pedestrian areas, and to have accountability for the operators."

In the UK, where delivery robots are being piloted in a number of cities, some locals have taken matters into their own hands. There have been reports of Uber Eats vehicles being vandalised in Sheffield.

The supplier of these machines, Starship Technologies, says they are perfectly safe and that perceptions need to change.

"We know it's a new experience for a lot of people to share a pavement with a robot," says the company's European operations director Danny Pass.

"But the robots are friendly, they're polite and they're programmed to be careful. They've slotted into everyday life in loads of communities since we started out in the UK back in 2018."

Uber Eats delivery robots vandalised in Sheffield

Not all concerns, though, are centred around pedestrian safety. The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB), whose members include delivery drivers, is worried about the impact on jobs. It says it is keeping a watchful eye, and it has already expressed its concerns to the government.

"I think if it became more of a [permanent, countrywide] reality, we'd definitely have to be thinking about where we put on pressure - whether that's government, TfL [Transport for London], or local authorities - to ensure that these things are banned, because the human impact would be massive," says president Alex Marshall.

"This would mean whole communities in London, where a lot of people are precarious workers, would really suffer. People would be fighting for their lives against these pointless robots."

While the use of autonomous delivery robots is still limited, analysts believe they're set for a major boom. A report last summer from research firm Transforma Insight, indeed, concluded that by 2034, there will be 2.1 million in operation around the world.

Currently, there's a hotchpotch of regulation worldwide. Some countries, such as South Korea and Japan, have taken a liberal approach.

Back in Chicago, Robertson says he is fighting for the best possible outcome for pedestrians city-wide.

"There's a sense that change like this, even when it's unwanted is inevitable. But even if none of us can stop the future, we can at least choose which future we move into."

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