Biking in Boston

[kdmc]

From the Globe on Sunday: I signed up to drive for DoorDash. Now I know why food delivery causes traffic chaos.

The author's intervention recommendations are fairly unimaginative:



As mentioned earlier in the thread, I'm working on a study right now looking at best practices for preventing illegal standing/parking in bike lanes (thank you to everyone who took the survey about impacts, we got over 1300 responses!). Loading zone reform certainly has a part to play, but simply providing these and "reminding" drivers to use them will not make a significant impact. Other cities have been successfully piloting "smart" loading zones that essentially allow the reservation of loading zone space ahead of time. This works better for "institutional" delivery like UPS or business delivery as opposed to gig work, but can work well for gigs too if the gig apps can be compelled to comply, and compelled they must be. Traditional loading zone enforcement is becoming increasingly difficult because how is the enforcing agent supposed to know if the random toyota corrola in the loading zone is parked illegally or dropping an instacart order? Shifting as much of urban delivery, particular small scale deliveries like many gig apps tend to be, to e-cargo bikes, is also necessary. Some cities are piloting specific loading zones for cargo bikes, but these are ongoing and I don't have conclusive data to share.

In addition to loading zone reform, some other things that need to be taken into consideration:
*Scheduling. Blockages are most common at weekday peak hours. Creating incentive structures to encourage non-peak/overnight/weekend delivery can help alleviate some of the problem.

* Enforcement reform. Automated bus lane enforcement has been highly effective where implemented. California is expanding this to allow bus cameras to conduct enforcement on bike lanes. I could not find hard research on this, but several anecdotal instances where mandating cops do a certain amount of their shifts on bikes lead to a significant increase in enforcement. Citizen enforcement has also been highly successful in Malibu, where there is no bounty and you have to sign up and go through 96 hours of training to be a part of the program. Unfortunately even in NYC and DC this has been considered too politically toxic to go through with. One can only imagine the impacts of a robust program that includes a bounty.

* Construction. Right now there is no requirement to accommodate a bike lane that's disrupted due to construction/road work like there is with a sidewalk. This can and should be remediated.

* Design. Unsurprisingly, drivers block protected bike lanes less frequently than unprotected ones. Wider lanes, even unbuffered, also resulted in less blockages.

* There has to be a stick component. There has to be. I cannot over state the universality of disdain and dismissal received from both institutional and gig delivery drivers*, as well as the general "driving public" as seen in the facebook responses to municipalities that shared our survey.

Edit: to clarify, we did specific outreach to 15 delivery/rideshare driver communities on reddit.

Something I've always assumed, and maybe you can confirm or deny this @KCasiglio , is that delivery drivers are under intense pressure to deliver As Fast As Possible, not only to maximize their immediate paycheck, but also to avoid late-delivery complaints which damage their "reputation" within whatever apps they use. Since so many delivery drivers park illegally or drive their mopeds in the bike lane or whatever, it creates a system where even drivers who would like to follow the law cannot do so without sacrificing their ability to compete with the rule-breakers.

It's a tragedy of the commons, and the actors in this tragedy are service workers who are hustling to make ends meet, mediated only by ruthlessly profit-driven food tech companies. "Reminding them to follow the rules" is nonsense. We need enforcement.

 

[KCasiglio]

Something I've always assumed, and maybe you can confirm or deny this @KCasiglio , is that delivery drivers are under intense pressure to deliver As Fast As Possible, not only to maximize their immediate paycheck, but also to avoid late-delivery complaints which damage their "reputation" within whatever apps they use. Since so many delivery drivers park illegally or drive their mopeds in the bike lane or whatever, it creates a system where even drivers who would like to follow the law cannot do so without sacrificing their ability to compete with the rule-breakers

From the conversations I’ve had this varies between the type of delivery. DoorDash/UberEats, very much so. Rideshare there is certainly customer pressure to just “let me out here” and one can picture the frustration that would be expressed towards a driver circling looking for a legal spot when you just want to get where you’re going. Instacart, which I actually still work for on the weekends, I’ve never felt pressure from the customer side.

 

[RandomWalk]

Unless the roles become employees, paid for their time and not by the piece, the incentives will never align for proper curb use.

 

[FK4]

Something I've always assumed, and maybe you can confirm or deny this @KCasiglio , is that delivery drivers are under intense pressure to deliver As Fast As Possible, not only to maximize their immediate paycheck, but also to avoid late-delivery complaints which damage their "reputation" within whatever apps they use. Since so many delivery drivers park illegally or drive their mopeds in the bike lane or whatever, it creates a system where even drivers who would like to follow the law cannot do so without sacrificing their ability to compete with the rule-breakers.

It's a tragedy of the commons, and the actors in this tragedy are service workers who are hustling to make ends meet, mediated only by ruthlessly profit-driven food tech companies. "Reminding them to follow the rules" is nonsense. We need enforcement.

Tax deliveries more

 

[JeffDowntown]

Tax deliveries more

That might reduce demand, but it still does not align delivery driver behavior with good, shared use of curb space.

 

[sneijder]

I don't get why bike delivery couriers are not more common? The infrastructure is getting better, most trips are short enough where bikes are faster, you get some exercise, and you don't have to worry about illegally parking where you might actually be able to get more orders done per hour. And you don't have to maintain a $20k liability or pay for gas or insurance.

The city should be doing more to incentivize all intra-city deliveries to be done on bike.

 

[RandomWalk]

Some gig workers commute from areas like Fall River or RI because the demand (thus pay) is better. Congestion pricing might mitigate some of that, but Secretary Tibets-Nutt got scolded for even hinting at that.

 

[KCasiglio]

Some gig workers commute from areas like Fall River or RI because the demand (thus pay) is better. Congestion pricing might mitigate some of that, but Secretary Tibets-Nutt got scolded for even hinting at that.

The MPO recently did an exploratory study into this and while all of the Powers That Be are privately very enthusiastic I think it has no chance of being implemented this decade. Best case scenario, a pilot of dynamic pricing on the pike.

I don't get why bike delivery couriers are not more common? The infrastructure is getting better, most trips are short enough where bikes are faster, you get some exercise, and you don't have to worry about illegally parking where you might actually be able to get more orders done per hour. And you don't have to maintain a $20k liability or pay for gas or insurance.

The city should be doing more to incentivize all intra-city deliveries to be done on bike.

Things are slowly moving in that direction. Here’s what I heard from drivers (non-Boston specific but people who self identified as working in a comparable urban environment).

Weather, a lot of people do this year round and even where there is infrastructure there is not great cleaning/maintenance, especially in the winter months.

Safety, I think we can all appreciate this without me going in depth.

Education/stigma, this is slowly changing but quite frankly there is still a lot of “that’s just not feasible” - especially in the community I know best, instacart. I think this is why motor scooters are so much more popular with delivery than e-bikes/e-cargo bikes.

Edit: also the city IS working to educate and incentivize: https://www.boston.gov/departments/transportation/boston-delivers

That might reduce demand, but it still does not align delivery driver behavior with good, shared use of curb space.

100%, but increasing revenue dedicated to ameliorating the externalities like we’ve done with TNCs would allow for more interventions

 

[TheRatmeister]

I don't get why bike delivery couriers are not more common? The infrastructure is getting better, most trips are short enough where bikes are faster, you get some exercise, and you don't have to worry about illegally parking where you might actually be able to get more orders done per hour. And you don't have to maintain a $20k liability or pay for gas or insurance.

The city should be doing more to incentivize all intra-city deliveries to be done on bike.

I will say that this leads to the same problem but with large e-bikes speeding through bike lanes and getting into accidents with other cyclists and pedestrians.

 

[KCasiglio]

I will say that this leads to the same problem but with large e-bikes speeding through bike lanes and getting into accidents with other cyclists and pedestrians.

I don’t think that’s the same problem

 

[as02143]

I don't get why bike delivery couriers are not more common? The infrastructure is getting better, most trips are short enough where bikes are faster, you get some exercise, and you don't have to worry about illegally parking where you might actually be able to get more orders done per hour. And you don't have to maintain a $20k liability or pay for gas or insurance.

The city should be doing more to incentivize all intra-city deliveries to be done on bike.

Non-food bike couriers are still around. But, Mess folks are much less common today tho than 15-20 years back.

Like a lot of gig/service work, there's a huge spatial mismatch between where folks who can afford to work for that cheap live and where folks who want those kinds of services live. The only currently feasible way to bridge those gaps is driving.

What a great society we have here.

 

[Longfellow]

I have pretty strong opinions on this topic -- I would say in general, that car delivered food is in general wasteful and harmful in metro Boston. When zero interest rate policy allowed these companies to hemorrhage billions with loss leading prices, they addicted upper class professionals to the idea that they should get cold McDanks delivered to their door multiple times a day. I know someone from school who would get three Mexican Cokes door dashed from Chipotle every day -- there is no way to fix that behavior without some kind of big govt policy. Because the people who can afford the fancy rent can afford the fee and are willing to pay for that service. I'm wary that in times of disability or sickness you may need the service, but that has to be treated as a special case.

I personally don't have any problem with E-bikes in the bike lane. That kind of worrying is basically pastoralism, eg. the people who want to ban e-bikes from central park in NYC because they see bikes as a pleasure device rather than as a serious means of transportation. Let's make it safe and fast to travel on a bike, step up enforcement on drivers, and also come up with some big sticks that we can use against Instacart-Americans.

 

[sneijder]

I have pretty strong opinions on this topic -- I would say in general, that car delivered food is in general wasteful and harmful in metro Boston. When zero interest rate policy allowed these companies to hemorrhage billions with loss leading prices, they addicted upper class professionals to the idea that they should get cold McDanks delivered to their door multiple times a day. I know someone from school who would get three Mexican Cokes door dashed from Chipotle every day -- there is no way to fix that behavior without some kind of big govt policy. Because the people who can afford the fancy rent can afford the fee and are willing to pay for that service. I'm wary that in times of disability or sickness you may need the service, but that has to be treated as a special case.

I personally don't have any problem with E-bikes in the bike lane. That kind of worrying is basically pastoralism, eg. the people who want to ban e-bikes from central park in NYC because they see bikes as a pleasure device rather than as a serious means of transportation. Let's make it safe and fast to travel on a bike, step up enforcement on drivers, and also come up with some big sticks that we can use against Instacart-Americans.

I would say those that are willing to pay the (fair) price for the service should still be allowed to do so, but the charges need to be higher so that a) the gig workers can get paid a living wage net of the maintenance costs of their car, b) taxes are incurred so that the negative externalities from the drivers clogging up our streets are paid for by the person ordering.

Everyone else shouldn't need to bear the cost of someone who wants a little bag of food delivered 0.7 miles because they were too lazy to walk. If non-car forms of transport were more viable (through denser zoning, safer pedestrian/bike/transit infrastructure), there would probably be less need for ubereats anyway.

 

[Charlie_mta]

I have pretty strong opinions on this topic -- I would say in general, that car delivered food is in general wasteful and harmful in metro Boston. When zero interest rate policy allowed these companies to hemorrhage billions with loss leading prices, they addicted upper class professionals to the idea that they should get cold McDanks delivered to their door multiple times a day. I know someone from school who would get three Mexican Cokes door dashed from Chipotle every day -- there is no way to fix that behavior without some kind of big govt policy. Because the people who can afford the fancy rent can afford the fee and are willing to pay for that service. I'm wary that in times of disability or sickness you may need the service, but that has to be treated as a special case.

I personally don't have any problem with E-bikes in the bike lane. That kind of worrying is basically pastoralism, eg. the people who want to ban e-bikes from central park in NYC because they see bikes as a pleasure device rather than as a serious means of transportation. Let's make it safe and fast to travel on a bike, step up enforcement on drivers, and also come up with some big sticks that we can use against Instacart-Americans.

E-bikes are becoming a serious component of urban transportation, and if the right infrastructure of bike lanes and law enforcement are sufficiently developed in the (near) future, e-bikes could cut down significantly on urban traffic congestion and automobile parking. I'm thinking of getting one myself. I still peddle my conventional bike quite a bit, but an e-bike would expand my horizons for bicycle use.

 

[JeffDowntown]

I would say those that are willing to pay the (fair) price for the service should still be allowed to do so, but the charges need to be higher so that a) the gig workers can get paid a living wage net of the maintenance costs of their car, b) taxes are incurred so that the negative externalities from the drivers clogging up our streets are paid for by the person ordering.

Everyone else shouldn't need to bear the cost of someone who wants a little bag of food delivered 0.7 miles because they were too lazy to walk. If non-car forms of transport were more viable (through denser zoning, safer pedestrian/bike/transit infrastructure), there would probably be less need for ubereats anyway.

It is almost like we need a curb access fee, tied to the app driven demand. Basically every curb stop (or stop in mid-street for the scofflaws) incurs an extra fee added to the price of the delivery. Fee for each pickup, fee for the drop. Curb space is very valuable in an urban setting, and people clogging it need to pay.

 

[KCasiglio]

I would say those that are willing to pay the (fair) price for the service should still be allowed to do so, but the charges need to be higher so that a) the gig workers can get paid a living wage net of the maintenance costs of their car, b) taxes are incurred so that the negative externalities from the drivers clogging up our streets are paid for by the person ordering.

Everyone else shouldn't need to bear the cost of someone who wants a little bag of food delivered 0.7 miles because they were too lazy to walk. If non-car forms of transport were more viable (through denser zoning, safer pedestrian/bike/transit infrastructure), there would probably be less need for ubereats anyway.

Agreed, and I want to emphasize that a meaningful, though by no means a majority, of the people I deliver instacart to are elderly/disabled and genuinely derive extreme benefit from the availability of the service. I think a fee exemption for someone who would qualify for a handicap placard would be a reasonable accommodation, but I have no clue how the logistics of this would work. I would love for instacart, and all the apps, to share data with government agencies but they have zero interest in such.

 

[Stlin]

Not to distract from the curb space conversation, but What do folks think about the fact that we're apparently getting a second docked bike share provider, but red, privately owned/operated, and all e-bike?

Apparently owned by a Segway (partner/subsidiary?) based in Cambridge, they have a small number of stations (6, and <100 app downloads when I looked today. While this station is apparently MG-B employee only, they've got a few scattered around metro Boston. Interestingly enough, they're apparently using e-bikes from Jump, formerly part Uber, an operator that went defunct in 2020 after getting aquired by Lime. I'm not too sure how well a 4-5+ year old e-bike will do, but apparently they're trying.

 

[Longfellow]

Blue bikes have advantage of already being rolled out everywhere. If these bikes were good I would use them, but I can’t commute just to take one.

 

[FK4]

I have pretty strong opinions on this topic -- I would say in general, that car delivered food is in general wasteful and harmful in metro Boston. When zero interest rate policy allowed these companies to hemorrhage billions with loss leading prices, they addicted upper class professionals to the idea that they should get cold McDanks delivered to their door multiple times a day. I know someone from school who would get three Mexican Cokes door dashed from Chipotle every day -- there is no way to fix that behavior without some kind of big govt policy. Because the people who can afford the fancy rent can afford the fee and are willing to pay for that service. I'm wary that in times of disability or sickness you may need the service, but that has to be treated as a special case.

I personally don't have any problem with E-bikes in the bike lane. That kind of worrying is basically pastoralism, eg. the people who want to ban e-bikes from central park in NYC because they see bikes as a pleasure device rather than as a serious means of transportation. Let's make it safe and fast to travel on a bike, step up enforcement on drivers, and also come up with some big sticks that we can use against Instacart-Americans.

A friend (who is a pretty hardcore biker) in SF has always bemoaned the aggressive cyclists. When he lived in Boston he once broke up what was about to be a fight because one of the spandex riders on the Esplanade riding like 30 mph buzzed someone and it turned into an altercation. He also says people are going way too fast on e-bikes now in SF. I think there tends to be such advocacy amongst cyclists, in general, for bikes as transportation that the people who ignore basic rules of etiquette and safety get a free pass all too often. It doesnt make you anti-bike to call for some sensible rules on aggressive or dangerous riding, especially in places with many pedestrians, and, especially, children.

Regarding deliveries, I agree. The ease and cheapness of doing this has deep and corrosive societal implications, not limited to the major impacts on traffic that deliveries have caused. It encourages even more rushing through life, discourages the value of taking the time to actually cook a meal, etc. Yes, everyone is busy. But the ever-increasing speed of life is not something that we should be systematically encouraging. Aside from federal changes to import/export and agricultural subsidies, state level changes can also make a difference. Uber Eats, Chowhound as I understand it are terrible to the businesses the supposedly serve. There could easily be state level prohibition of excessive skimming that they do to restaurants, as well as a state tax on this type of service. I would be much more OK with the latter if the former was also enacted--it shouldn't be limited solely to punishing the consumer. Local enforcement by police is just a total joke. I really dont know what could be done about that. The clearing of parking tickets and lack of consequences for delivery drivers really is something that should be addressed at the state level as well. Not to the delivery driver, but to the company, with a built in legal language prohibiting the company from reprisals of drivers who accrue tickets. Punish the corporations, not the people. There are solutions to these things, but there are deep pockets that stand in the way.

 

[BOS2BON]

A friend (who is a pretty hardcore biker) in SF has always bemoaned the aggressive cyclists. When he lived in Boston he once broke up what was about to be a fight because one of the spandex riders on the Esplanade riding like 30 mph buzzed someone and it turned into an altercation. He also says people are going way too fast on e-bikes now in SF. I think there tends to be such advocacy amongst cyclists, in general, for bikes as transportation that the people who ignore basic rules of etiquette and safety get a free pass all too often. It doesnt make you anti-bike to call for some sensible rules on aggressive or dangerous riding, especially in places with many pedestrians, and, especially, children.

Regarding deliveries, I agree. The ease and cheapness of doing this has deep and corrosive societal implications, not limited to the major impacts on traffic that deliveries have caused. It encourages even more rushing through life, discourages the value of taking the time to actually cook a meal, etc. Yes, everyone is busy. But the ever-increasing speed of life is not something that we should be systematically encouraging. Aside from federal changes to import/export and agricultural subsidies, state level changes can also make a difference. Uber Eats, Chowhound as I understand it are terrible to the businesses the supposedly serve. There could easily be state level prohibition of excessive skimming that they do to restaurants, as well as a state tax on this type of service. I would be much more OK with the latter if the former was also enacted--it shouldn't be limited solely to punishing the consumer. Local enforcement by police is just a total joke. I really dont know what could be done about that. The clearing of parking tickets and lack of consequences for delivery drivers really is something that should be addressed at the state level as well. Not to the delivery driver, but to the company, with a built in legal language prohibiting the company from reprisals of drivers who accrue tickets. Punish the corporations, not the people. There are solutions to these things, but there are deep pockets that stand in the way.

The esplanade paths are too narrow for the amount of people walking/walking their dogs/running/biking/roller blading on them.