Delivery apps have deployed armies of e-bikes on the streets and sidewalks of New York City and the City Council is looking for ways to make those companies responsible for the myriad health and safety concerns that have erupted as a result.
The Council’s Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection debated seven bills on Friday morning meant to improve safety and working conditions for food delivery workers and the communities they serve. The bills each target long-standing issues and concerns around the delivery industry – from dangerous e-bike crashes and battery fires to low pay rates.
“Right now, delivery workers are essentially incentivized for speed, and their top priority is quickly completing their next delivery,” said Councilmember Lynn Schulman during the hearing. “This often results in driving recklessly, often putting the lives of pedestrians at risk, as well as compromising their own safety.”
Three of the bills pertain to e-bikes and mopeds, which are the primary modes of transportation for as many as half of the city’s 65,000 delivery workers. The measures would make third-party delivery app companies like Uber Eats, GrubHub and DoorDash responsible for ensuring the vehicles’ safety and compliance with city regulations.
One of the bills would require the app companies to provide e-bikes or similar vehicles to workers who can’t provide their own safety-compliant vehicles. Deadly fires resulting from e-bikes with unregulated batteries and faulty chargers have increased significantly throughout the city, prompting lawmakers and FDNY officials to find ways to hold companies that manufacture the devices and promote their use accountable.
Another bill would require the delivery apps to ensure that workers are obeying traffic laws at sidewalks and intersections by making them liable for any fines issued to workers who violate the rules. There were 23 fatal e-bike crashes in 2023 compared to nine in 2022, according to city data. A study by CUNY researchers released in April found that 1 in 5 food delivery app workers said they had been injured while working, and partly attributed the findings to app algorithms that it claimed may incentivize workers to take risks to deliver orders quickly.
Schulman said the bill would give delivery workers 10 days to notify apps of any traffic fines or tickets, which she called an “important safeguard” for workers and companies alike to hold each other accountable for reckless behavior.
The third bill would require the apps to make sure any mopeds used by delivery workers are properly registered. It comes as the NYPD has cracked down on unlicensed mopeds it says are often used to commit crimes.
The other four bills would further regulate pay rates and tips for delivery workers. One would require apps to solicit tips ahead of time or right when an order is placed – a change from the past, where some apps would only allow consumers to tip workers after checkout. Another would establish standards for delivery workers’ tips.
“In response to their minimum wage agreement with deliveristas, delivery apps have retaliated by hiding the tip menu for consumers, knowing that deliveristas will lose out on meaningful earnings,” said Councilmember Shaun Abreu, who sponsored several of the bills. “We’re talking about $85 million. That is insanity. And that difference would make the difference.”
Another bill would establish more guidelines for the percentage of fees that apps are able to charge a restaurant and would expand how restaurants are able to advertise on apps.
Councilmember Rafael Salamanca said it would ensure fairness in the industry by protecting restaurants “from exploitation while helping them attract new customers on their terms.”
A final bill would call for more transparency from apps around workers’ pay, requiring them to display a running tally of workers’ trips, on-call time, and tips for any given pay period. The apps would also have to provide workers with itemized pay statements.
“We want to know how people’s pay is getting calculated. We want to know their active time worked. For God’s sake, is this something that we have to fight for through legislation?” Abreu said at the hearing. “Any worker in this city should know their active time worked. They should know how their pay is getting calculated.”
“We’re sending a message that we’re standing up for our deliveristas,” he continued. “We’re sending a message that we’re standing up for working-class families.”
In a statement, GrubHub spokesperson Patrick Burke said the company was pleased with the Council bill that would allow for restaurants to advertise on apps and said GrubHub would work with members on other bills as well.
“With this compromise, New York’s small, independent restaurants would once again have the necessary flexibility to market themselves, grow their customer base, and compete with the big chains,” Burke said. “Grubhub applauds the Council and amendment sponsors for working to find a reasonable path forward that would finally fix these pandemic-era restrictions.”
DoorDash panned the measures floated by the Council saying the Council’s bill on tipping would ultimately mean less money in the pockets of delivery workers. The company also objected to the Council singling out food delivery apps when other delivery companies like Amazon and Instacart have not been targeted.
“Today’s hearing put on full display the New York City Council’s ‘one step forward, three steps back’ approach to policymaking with respect to platforms like ours,” said DoorDash spokesperson Eli Scheinholtz, adding the bills ignore the unintended consequences they’ll create. “While the Council’s continued insistence on regulating a single industry is inexplicable, one thing is clear: more thought and collaboration is needed to prevent any further harm to Dashers, merchants, and customers across the five boroughs.”
Spokespeople for Uber Eats did not immediately respond to requests for comment.