Thousands sign petition to pause robot deliveries after alleged crashes, obstructions in Chicago
By Karen Jordan
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CHICAGO (WLS) — Supporters call it the future of delivery, but critics worry about sidewalk congestion. Either way, there’s a lot of talk about food delivery robots that are popping up more and more in Chicago neighborhoods.
The boxy robots on wheels, from companies like Coco and Uber, have hit the streets in several Chicago neighborhoods.
They’ve gone viral on social media, with posts documenting their travels, delivering food from a restaurant to the person who made the order.
Sometimes, they have mishaps, like getting stuck in the snow.
The battery-powered machines use cameras and sensors to navigate sidewalks, cross streets and avoid pedestrians.
But Caity Collins says she had too close of an encounter with one.
“The other day I was walking, and one rammed straight into the back of my leg. And it’s not great,” said Collins, who works at The Pasta Bowl in Lincoln Park.
Lincoln Park is one of the neighborhoods where delivery robots are common, especially at dinner time.
Ethan Venzon says, at times, several robots have waited outside the restaurant for deliveries.
“Sometimes it’s kind of in the way. It takes up a lot of the sidewalk,” Venzon said.
It’s that congestion that prompted Josh Robertson to start a petition calling for the city to hit pause on the robots and provide more safety data, saying sidewalks are for people.
So far, he’s gotten 2,500 people to sign on.
“We’re getting reports of collisions with people, with pets, with bicyclists, getting reports of obstruction,” Robertson said.
Vignesh Ram, with Serve Robotics, one of two companies that have introduced the delivery bots to Chicago, says he’s aware of the petition and welcomes any feedback.
Ram says the robots make deliveries no farther than a mile and a half away, and have less of an impact on the environment.
“Robots at the end of the day carry 1/3,000th the kinetic energy of a car. They travel more slowly. They don’t present the risk that cars that do deliveries can do,” Ram said.
In the meantime, a couple of Chicago aldermen recently sent out surveys to their constituents, asking for their feedback on the delivery bots. That information is still being gathered.
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