Human-operated autonomous delivery vehicles given green light by Santa Monica City Council
On Tuesday, October 29, Santa Monica City Council voted to continue to allow certain autonomous delivery vehicles to transport food.
There are stipulations: the device must be controlled by a human and needs to be registered under a business license. The delivery vehicles must also abide by safety rules.
In addition, the vehicle can go no more than 3 m.p.h.
The companies who are legally complying within the approved regulations will qualify to be a part of a pilot program that is tentatively scheduled to start January 1, 2021 and last one year.
The October 29 vote effectively banned autonomous devices operated without human supervision under a one year moratorium.
The ordinance comes after some residents complained of remote-controlled autonomous vehicles or “bots” traveling around the city.
Council modeled their ordinance after safety requirements put in place by San Francisco Council who also approved “bot” delivery.
