Delivery people who use motorized bikes and scooters in Toronto may soon find themselves bearing a new load if one city councillor has her way, but the idea is already getting pushback from those who say it’s off-course.
Coun. Dianne Saxe, who represents University-Rosedale, is asking city staff to look into ways of requiring commercial riders of motorized vehicles to bear identifiers, like plates, so that those who break the rules of the road can be more easily tracked down by police or be reported to bylaw officers.
“I’m talking about motorized scooters, I’m talking about e-bikes, I’m talking about anything that has a motor that allows people to go really fast,” Saxe said. “They do not ever belong on the sidewalk, and a lot of them are going on the sidewalk and they’re terrifying pedestrians.”
Saxe’s motion says that while most commercial riders follow the rules of the road, those who don’t are, too often, getting away scott-free.
“A minority of (motorized) couriers create safety hazards for pedestrians and other vulnerable road users by flagrantly ignoring traffic rules, travelling at high speeds and riding on sidewalks,” Saxe’s motion reads.
“Attempts to enforce traffic rules against such couriers has not been effective in discouraging this behaviour, partly because neither the couriers nor their vehicles bear clear identification. Accordingly, it is difficult to identify and locate offenders.
“This creates a culture of impunity, which further encourages illegal and hazardous behaviour.”
Saxe’s motion came up at council last week but it was sent to the infrastructure and environment committee for further discussion later this month. As well as suggesting that ID plates are a good way to help track possible offenders, it also calls on employers to better educate their riders, and for police to step up enforcement of couriers using motorized mobility devices, excluding motorized wheelchairs.
Hold companies responsible, not riders, says advocate
Only commercial riders would be affected by Saxe’s proposal. But forcing them to bear identifying plates is not finding much support among cycling advocates, who see it as the thin edge of the wedge.
“We do not think that they should be plated in any way,” said Alison Stewart, acting executive director of Cycle Toronto. “We should be encouraging people to adopt active modes of transportation, not targeting them and making it more difficult for them to access.”
She also said in a statement that the companies like Uber Eats — not riders themselves — should be held responsible if pedestrians are harmed by e-bike riders.
“The low wages and precarious nature of ‘gig work’, incentives food couriers to bike or drive quickly (and sometimes dangerously) in order to complete as many deliveries as possible in a short time frame,” the statement reads.
“Our focus instead should be on legislating the employers that profit off this structure and ensuring that couriers do not have to take risks that endanger other road users.”
And Brise Sopher, who does food deliveries by bike for a living, is also dead-set against the idea of plating commercial riders who used motorized vehicles.
Sopher, who also heads Gig Workers United, an association of app delivery workers in southern Ontario, says Saxe’s plan will force riders — many of whom are newcomers, working extremely precarious jobs — to carry yet another expense, although it’s still unclear what plating would cost the riders.
“She’s calling on us to get a plate that allows people to report on us if we violate the rules of the road,” he said.
“We do our best to obey the rules of the road and to be safe and to protect ourselves and our fellow citizens in this city, however, anyone who has biked in this city knows that sometimes one has to make exceptions. Picking up food from a restaurant, invariably, my bike will for a moment be on the sidewalk.”
Proposal ‘came completely out of the blue’: courier
He says a better alternative would be to demand that the platforms who use riders with motor-assisted devices ease up on their deadlines.
“The real solution here is is to approach the apps and and get them to take responsibility for the way that they that they make us work,” he said. “Oftentimes the apps give us very tight deadlines to make deliveries.”
Sopher, who’s been in the business for eight years, says food delivery people can make as little as $2 a trip.
Sopher said he’d like to speak with Saxe about any future plan to cut down on pedestrian interactions with motorized delivery people.
“This came completely out of the blue,” he said. “We’d like to figure out a way that all of us in the community can find a way to keep everyone safe, because it is in our interest.”
A spokesperson for Uber Canada denied that it’s workers aren’t properly educated.
“When someone signs up to be a delivery person with Uber, they agree to knowing and obeying all applicable laws including the rules of road — complying with traffic and parking laws, signs, and signals — at all times when using Uber’s platform,” Keerthana Rang said in an email. “Everyone on the Uber platform is expected to follow the law.
“We continuously look for ways to improve road safety and are happy to sit down with government and stakeholder partners.”