LAKEVIEW — The robot revolution is here — on North Side sidewalks, at least.
With names like Stacey, Quincy and Rajesh, the boxy food delivery robots are regularly zooming down side streets — and occasionally getting stuck in the snow — to deliver Shake Shack or Taco Bell to eager patrons in Lakeview, Lincoln Park and Uptown, among other neighborhoods. They’re adorable to some, a safety hazard to others and impossible to ignore for most.
The buzzing bots are causing a stir in person and online. In neighborhood Facebook groups, they’ve found fervent support and fierce opposition, while a passionate contingent of neighbors have banded together to oust them from the city altogether.
Josh Robertson is leading that charge. The Lincoln Park resident has launched a petition calling for the city to hit pause on the robots, arguing, “Chicago sidewalks are for people, not delivery robots.”
The petition asks the city’s transportation and business departments to “release safety & ADA findings, evaluate that data and local job impacts in a public hearing, and set clear rules” for the robots. As of Dec. 2, more than 1,500 people have signed the petition, 350 of whom included an “incident report” describing their interactions with the robots.
Robertson said he first noticed the robots in his neighborhood earlier this year and thought they were “kind of neat … . It felt futuristic.”
That changed when he went for a walk with his young children and a robot approached on the sidewalk, he said.
“This is a vehicle in the pedestrian path space that’s meant for people, and yet we ended up stepping aside, and something about that felt a little off,” Robertson said. “I began to wonder, what are our sidewalks going to be like if these programs are successful from the company’s point of view, and they continue to scale, and there are dozens and dozens of them on our sidewalks, even on quiet residential sidewalks?”
That’s a question many Chicagoans — including some alderpeople — are asking. The offices of Alds. Angela Clay (46th) and Bennett Lawson (44th) have sent out surveys to neighbors in their respective wards asking them to describe their experiences and concerns with the bots and whether they support or oppose their presence.
“That’s the part that I wish would have happened prior to us implementing this,” said Gaby Rodriguez, of Uptown. “I at least want some control over my sidewalk. I can’t control anything else in this environment, but I can certainly have a voice in what we allow on our sidewalks.”
In a statement, Lawson said his office launched the survey after seeing more robots in Lakeview. The feedback “will help inform our conversations with city departments, operators and others about the future use of delivery robots in our neighborhood and around the city,” he said.
The delivery robot pilot program launched in Chicago in 2022 under then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and a few companies now operate app-based robots in the city. Coco rolled out last year in the 27th and 34 wards, which include parts of the Loop, Near North Side, West Loop, Near West Side, West Town and West Humboldt Park. The company recently partnered with burger chain Shake Shack.
Serve Robotics, used by UberEats and other food delivery apps, expanded to Chicago in late September. Serve rolled out in partnership with more than 100 restaurants in 14 Chicago neighborhoods, including East Garfield Park, Logan Square and Belmont Cragin.
“About half of all food deliveries globally are shorter than 2 and a half miles, which basically means that all of our cities are filled with burrito taxis,” said Viggy Ram, Serve’s vice president of policy. “This is really an effort to make short-distance delivery safer, more sustainable and reduce congestion overall.”
Serve is aware of the Chicago petition and welcomes the feedback, good and bad, in hopes the company can serve the city as best as it can, Ram said. The company’s goal is to expand into more neighborhoods, he said.
Each bot has a “contact us” label for those who want to offer feedback, Ram said.
“Unlike a distracted driver, they are able to look in all four directions at the same time and make the smartest, safest decision possible,” Ram said. “We see this as a much safer option for Chicago’s residents and for pedestrians.”
In a written statement, a representative for Coco said the company “takes safety and community partnership as our top priorities. We have been operating in Chicago for a year with strong community support. We maintain strict protocols for sidewalk safety, ADA compliance and incident response.”
Some residents have come to the defense of the delivery robots, and even taken a liking to them. One Lakeview neighbor noted a Serve bot gave her “a friendly beep.”
“They are starting to know who are fans,” she said.
Rodriguez thinks that’s intentional, the cutesy design and human-sounding names of the robots distract from what he said are the real issues of accessibility and functionality, particularly for neighbors with disabilities.
Rodriguez argues that the companies have parachuted into Chicago communities without an understanding of, or a desire to learn, neighborhoods’ specific needs, and he worries that while residents currently have the option to use the delivery bot services, they may not have a choice in the future.
“What other corporations are we going to allow on our sidewalks? That’s the last place that was meant to be human-centric, right?” Rodriguez said. “I don’t want to lose that access and give open road for corporations to now start using our sidewalks, which they haven’t in the past.”
Rodriguez said he recently called Clay’s office to vent his concerns, and the alderwoman seemed unaware of the quantity and reach of the delivery robots.
Maria Barnes, the 46th ward’s business liaison, confirmed Clay’s office has fielded many concerns from neighbors, though it’s too early to make any conclusions or recommendations based on the survey results, she said.
“We’re still getting feedback from constituents, as well as the companies that are operating these devices. It’s ongoing, so at this point it’s a little premature to form any opinions,” Barnes said.
Robertson shares Rodriguez’s concerns, pointing to incident reports of the robots pushing neighbors off the sidewalks onto busy streets, colliding with bicyclists and even deterring emergency vehicles.
Becca Girsch, executive director of the Lakeview/Roscoe Village Chamber of Commerce, said the organization hasn’t spoken directly with Coco or Serve Robotics but has taken note of the polarizing reaction in recent weeks as Robertson’s petition continues to garner signatures.
“It’s hard not to pay attention,” Girsch said. “It seems like the winds are against the robots. I think right now we’re hearing mostly the negative. So if that’s the trend, then I’m not sure how long this pilot program will sustain itself.”
Robertson said he’s hopeful for a future where, even if the delivery bots continue to be used in the city, they’re better implemented into residents’ lives.
“The fact that they’re responding to this quickly tells me that Chicagoans’ voices are beginning to be heard on this issue,” Robertson said. “These are suddenly such a visible and such a big part of our public lives that we need to make sure that the right level of attention and the right discussions are happening, to weigh the pros and the cons and again, to ultimately ask, what kind of neighborhoods do we want to build?”
Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast: