Bigger, faster delivery robots could be coming to Mountain View

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Mountain View is considering relaunching a pilot program that would allow delivery robots to transport cargo on city sidewalks and in bike lanes and traffic shoulder lanes. Courtesy Starship Technologies.

The bots are coming back to town, for the third time, in an updated pilot program that once again would allow automated delivery devices on the city’s sidewalks, crosswalks and possibly its bike lanes.

The robots – or personal delivery devices (PDD) – are not an unfamiliar sight in downtown Mountain View. They made their first appearance in 2019 when Google partnered with the Mountain View Public Library and launched an automated “book bot” delivery service that ran for three months.

A fleet of delivery bots transported food in downtown Mountain View during the COVID-19 pandemic. Courtesy Starship Technologies.

A year later, at the start of the pandemic, the city turned to an automated workforce again, this time in partnership with Starship Technologies. Restaurants and grocery stores used the bots to deliver food to residents during shelter-in-place mandates.

Since then the PDD pilot program has ended, but the city is considering reviving it as companies have come forward seeking to operate automated delivery services in Mountain View. This time around, however, the bots could be bigger and faster than before, according to a recent city memo.

“It’s a great opportunity to put Mountain View behind this and say, ‘Hey, we allow this. We’re trying to help be a better proof of concept for this opportunity. And this is how it aligns with different city goals,’” said Economic Vitality Manager John Lang, who presented the pilot program to the Downtown Committee Tuesday morning.

In the early iterations of the program, the robots traveled about 4 mph and were confined to sidewalks, with human handlers assisting them at street crossings. For the updated program, the city is considering allowing the robots to expand their parameters and travel up to 20 mph in bike lanes and traffic shoulder lanes. The size of these devices may also exceed 100 pounds, which would make them larger than their predecessors.

To oversee safety, the city is requiring that vendors pair fully autonomous robots – those that are computer-operated and use sensors to navigate – with human handlers for the first six months of operation.

In the past, some robots have not yielded to pedestrians on narrow sidewalks. A handler could help the device learn how to navigate these situations better, Lang said, adding that priority should be given to the person walking, and not to the device.

Other safety updates include a requirement that the vendors maintain a local presence and have a contact person always available to respond to law enforcement.

The city also is asking that companies add more performance measures to the devices, like the number of deliveries made and number of interactions and incidents with the public. Data, like estimated carbon emission reductions and heat maps of frequently used routes, would be included in reports too, as well as notifications about infrastructure issues, like damaged sidewalks.

The performance measures will help the city better understand the uses of the devices, as well as their capabilities, Lang said, adding that the adoption of these kinds of technologies could “move the needle” towards the city’s sustainability goals.

The updated PDD pilot program will be presented to the Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee and Public Works Department before being considered by City Council in the spring of 2024.