At a Back Bay intersection in August, a 64-year-old man was struck by an e-bike that was delivering food near Copley Square. The victim was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries and was pronounced dead a couple of weeks later.  

Following the accident, City Councilor Ed Flynn, a longtime advocate for increased regulation on city biking, is calling for a ban on mopeds and electric bicycles for third-party food delivery in Boston. 

“It can no longer be the Wild West on the streets of Boston,” Flynn said in a press release to The Beacon. 

The Boston Police Department currently does not keep track of e-bike accidents, but this ban comes after many safety concerns and 311 reports “that show hundreds of bike-related accidents caused by speeding,” according to Flynn. Opponents of the plan say that this will jeopardize the livelihoods of 33% of DoorDash and other food delivery drivers in Boston, affecting wait times, prices, traffic, businesses, and even the environmental efforts the city is trying to enforce. 

This proposed ban, introduced at a City Council meeting on Sept. 17, would be an amendment to a City Council ordinance introduced by Mayor Michelle Wu earlier this year. It requires third-party delivery platforms to carry liability insurance that covers all their delivery workers while also sharing trip data, which will “allow the City to better design roadway configurations, tailor enforcement, and better manage the safe operations of our streets.” 

This left many to comment about the current operations of the streets of Boston witnessing dangerous driving in and around the area. Nicole Sweet, a speech pathologist, said she has seen “lots [of] accidents happen with the bikes, and nobody’s careful … so it’s very scary.”

Sarah Pham, a student at Boston College, agreed. She said that she has experienced this herself, too.

“Boston isn’t really equipped to have bikes in general,” said Pham. “[I] see bikers that can’t decide whether to be pedestrians or actual drivers.”

According to the Metropolitan Area Planning Council Report, food delivery trips increased from  45 million in 2019 to 105 million in 2021 in Massachusetts. Boston was ranked third in the U.S. for per capita spending on food deliveries in 2022.

Since 2022, delivery companies have incentivized workers to prioritize speed over safety. This has led to mopeds and e-bikes going over 20 mph through red lights and stop signs nearly every day, and a pedestrian safety crisis, according to Flynn. 

“No reasonable person believes the rules of the road can continue to be optional,” Councilor Flynn continued in a statement to The Beacon. He is “respectfully asking his colleagues and the administration to have the courage to admit this model [the ordinance] does not work as intended.” 

But many other city councilors disagree with Flynn, worrying about the effects it will have on delivery drivers.

“There’s a lot of people who depend on these mopeds to make a living,” Councilor Enrique Pepén said during deliberation at the City Council meeting on Sept. 17.

“How are we supposed to survive if they take away the way we deliver food? It’s how we support ourselves, we don’t have cars, so I think [the ban] is very bad,” said Roligo Castro, who uses a moped to deliver food in the city. 

Castro was surrounded by other moped workers waiting for a delivery outside fast food restaurants on Boylston Street near Copley Square, who all agreed that the ban simply “cannot be done.” Castro said the ban would lead to increased unemployment because many Dashers depend on that mode of transportation to support their families. 

“I see [the dangers] for us who are driving as well, but I don’t think they should prohibit them. I think they should regulate them because they still need to earn a living,” agreed Omar Contreras, a retired DoorDash delivery driver from East Boston. 

Others see e-bikes as a helpful addition to the streets of Boston. While the ban only targets the use of bikes for delivery purposes, some worried about what the policy could mean for Boston’s transportation future.  

“I can’t see myself driving here, but I could see myself e-biking … you’ve just got to be really mindful,” said Martha Workman, a retired antique dealer.

“If students are trying to just get some extra money, it would be super annoying [to see a ban implemented] … no one has a car in the city, especially if they live on campus,” Nicole Armstrong, a junior business of creative enterprises major at Emerson, added.

Like many cities across the country, Boston already prohibits e-bike riding in designated areas like sidewalks. The city has also implemented measures like a stimulus-funded e-bike incentive program that makes purchasing e-bikes easier for seniors, low-income individuals, and those with disabilities. Some continue to argue that more regulation is needed for vehicles that can eclipse speeds of 28 mph, regardless of if they are delivery drivers or not.

However, even acknowledging the safety concerns that e-bikes and mopeds have caused, many said they think an all-out ban is not the way to solve the issue.

Shayla Riley, a junior media arts production major at Emerson, thinks the ban is “not at all” the solution, arguing that “it’s going to hurt not only the businesses [that] they are going [to],” as well as the drivers.

Anna Cruzado, a junior media psychology major, echoed Riley’s points, saying the bikes are “a lot faster and easier for them to navigate” and that the ban would only cause slower orders from their customers, who are mostly students.

Supporters and opponents alike are considering the effect that the ban will have on workers. According to Boston.com, many delivery drivers earn less than $16 per hour after expenses such as transportation and insurance. This is already hard to maintain for some, given that Boston’s housing expenses are 119% higher than the national average and utility prices are 52% higher and rising, according to Payscale. Through using a bike in the city, drivers no longer have to worry about car insurance, can beat the traffic, and have access to more orders. Meanwhile, the Boston area is one of the most expensive metropolitan areas in the United States, with the average annual cost totaling $9,716.26 for commuting in a private vehicle. 

“I would feel kind of bad about it, even though I personally don’t like [some driver’s behavior], just because that is some people’s mode of transportation,” Armstrong said, adding that offering increased ticketing measures or fines could be a possible alternative deterrent. “It sucks for the people that are being responsible. But I don’t know how to feel about banning it for everybody.”

“We couldn’t agree more with the push for safer, more responsible two-wheeled delivery, but an outright ban would have catastrophic consequences for the city’s local economy, and would force more deliveries back into cars, meaning more pollution and more congestion,” a spokesperson for DoorDash wrote in a statement to The Beacon. “As proven earlier this year, we remain a partner for the City as they explore meaningful solutions that will help keep Bostonians safe without damaging the city’s economy and sustainability efforts.”

According to the INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard, in 2022, Boston was rated the second-highest U.S. city for traffic delays. As of 2024, it is now the fourth most congested after New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

DoorDash is the most widely used food delivery service in the United States. In 2024, they reported that more than 60,000 people in Boston earned over $60 million, and local businesses generated nearly $200 million in additional revenue because of DoorDash.

They also highlighted the benefits for those on two wheels. Finding that in top cities, Dashers using bikes, e-bikes, or mopeds earn roughly 10% more than those using cars, and cities with higher shares of two-wheeled use have lower rates of traffic fatalities across all transportation modes. Massachusetts also came out with its own e-bike voucher program in April to improve affordability. 

DoorDash has recently also made some steps towards trying to make city streets safer by establishing a dedicated escalation channel, creating a point of contact with the Boston Police Department, and establishing a public safety announcement campaign with the City of Boston.

“Forcing deliveries back into cars would increase traffic congestion and emissions—undercutting Boston’s own climate goals,” the company’s statement continued. Per its climate action plan, Boston plans to cut emissions by 60% by 2030, in part through the promotion of electric vehicles and biking.  

The proposed ban currently remains in the Government Operations Committee, awaiting deliberation. An approval of the amendment, including the ban, could restore peace to Boston for people like Pham, who said it would be better to eliminate e-bikes from the city entirely. Alternatively, delivery drivers remain worried about what it could do to their industry and criticize the severity of the measure.

“We are all paying [if they implement this]. Not all of us drive reckless[ly], I think they should give us a chance,” Castro said.