Delivery work is now, by far, the deadliest job in New York City, writes Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Danny Harris.
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It’s happened to all of us.
Maybe you were crossing the street, biking to work, or taking your kid to school when, out of nowhere, an e-bike zoomed across your path — putting you in harm’s way.
Complaints of reckless riding, crashes, e-bikes on the sidewalk, and unlicensed mopeds and motorcycles have become constant in New York City. At Transportation Alternatives, we’ve been fighting for safer streets in New York City for over 50 years, and we know something has to change.
In 2016, Silicon Valley launched the first “same-day” delivery apps — and wreaked havoc on New York City’s streets. Today, these companies—– such as DoorDash, Instacart, Seamless, and UberEats — are in a constant race to the bottom, and they don’t care about safety, be it yours or that of their workers.
As more and more New Yorkers rely on delivered food, goods, and medicine, delivery companies have, in turn, promised impossible delivery windows that drive dangerous working conditions and make our streets less safe. Delivery work is now, by far, the deadliest job in New York City. Delivery workers aren’t just in danger at work, uncertified batteries are also causing deadly fires across the city. Razor-thin margins incentivize behavior that puts everyone last — except for the companies’ shareholders.
New York City has walked this road before — and with some of the very same tech companies. More than a decade ago, the app-based for-hire vehicle industry was born, and similarly brought sudden change and disruption to New York City’s streets. In both app-based systems, the speed of transportation and number of deliveries is a core function resting on immense pressure to complete as many trips as quickly as possible. What followed the launch of each of these new industries was congestion,…
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