Cities all
over the world have been hit with the rise of on-demand services like Lyft,
Uber, DoorDash, Postmates, Caviar and so many others in recent years. Last
year, there were 5.4 million on-demand workers in the country.
This year, there
are an estimated 6.8 million people working in the on-demand economy, according
to now-former Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers analyst Mary Meeker’s state of
the internet report.
While San
Francisco has found some success managing and regulating ride-hailing services,
moped sharing, bike sharing and, most recently, scooter sharing, it says it’s
missing some critical data around the 1099 workers who deliver food, groceries
and other items via tech startups. That’s why the San Francisco Municipal
Transportation Agency is looking to better understand the role of these services
through a new survey.
A
significant concern in the city of San Francisco is traffic caused by all of
these services. Earlier this year, San Francisco ranked fifth in the world for
the worst traffic congestion. But the SFMTA says the purpose of its survey is
to “understand the challenges couriers experience while performing deliveries”
in the city, as well as see what affect these courier networks have on the
city’s transportation network. More specifically, it’s looking to answer a few
questions, like:
How many couriers enter SF on a daily
basis?
What time of the day do couriers complete
most deliveries?
Where are the most deliveries made?
The survey
asks questions about how far couriers have to travel to the delivery pickup
location, how frequently they accept a new delivery, their primary mode of
transportation and for which service they deliver goods. Based on one of the
survey’s questions, it seems that the city is considering allowing couriers to
use loading spaces for pickups and drop-offs.
“By learning
about the challenges couriers experience when performing deliveries, the SFMTA
will better understand the role on-demand delivery services play in San
Francisco and their use of the overall transportation network,” the SFMTA wrote
in a blog post. “The insights gained from this survey may also help to inform
the city’s future transportation planning decisions.”
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