On Monday, Mayor Michelle Wu filed a proposed new city ordinance that would regulate app-based delivery companies like DoorDash and UberEats, whose drivers have elicited vocal complaints from residents in downtown neighborhoods.
The ordinance would require large app-based delivery platforms to obtain a permit from the Boston Transportation Department, with proof of adequate liability insurance so that those companies can cover the costs of crashes their drivers cause.
By requiring insurance coverage, city officials hope that the companies will take more responsibility for the behavior of their drivers.
“We hope to create an incentive for these companies to encourage safer driving instead of the current incentive–speed at all costs,” said Jascha Franklin-Hodge, Chief of Streets, in a press release the city issued Monday.
The ordinance would also require licensed delivery companies to share structured monthly data reports on the number of deliveries they sold, delivery origin and destination information, the types of vehicle involved, and other information to help the city manage traffic congestion.
Delivery drivers involved in 14 crashes in 2024
According to a city spokesperson, there were 14 crashes in 2024 that involved a food delivery driver; seven of those crashes caused injuries.
That represents less than half of one percent of the city's injury-causing traffic crashes.
Additionally, the City of Boston's crash data suggests that Boston's streets have been generally getting safer since 2018, even as the number of app-based deliveries has surged.
In 2019, Boston's 911 dispatchers sent emergency medical workers to 4,349 crash scenes citywide.
That figure declined to 3,910 crashes in 2021, and 3,540 crashes in 2023, the last full year for which data is available.
Public data on app-based delivery volume is scarce, but investor filings suggest that companies like DoorDash and UberEats suggest that they more than doubled their delivery volume in the two years between 2019 and 2021.
A preamble to the Mayor's ordinance states that "in the past year, Boston 311 received 105 reports from residents reporting delivery drivers on mopeds operating recklessly."
But to put that number in context, Boston 311 has also received 1,608 complaints about unshovelled sidewalks during the first 34 days of 2025.
